Contrary to popular belief, you can mix business with pleasure! I partnered with my friend Murray Newlands to create Due.com, but not without taking some precautions—we both wanted to preserve our friendship. The key was communication. We talked about our expectations, put everything in writing, and drafted contracts before getting into the thick of it. Communication is critical no matter what, but especially when mixing business and friendships.
Yahoo asked six people who’ve succeeded in partnering with friends what our secrets were, and it looks like my tip of communication was widely shared! However, there are additional tips to consider, like making time to not talk about work. Your friendship is still important, but you may need to delegate certain times for work and others for play.
Many fellow entrepreneurs echoed my sentiments by urging you to get legal documents in place, and setting boundaries from the get go. Doing so protects everyone and makes sure you’re both on the same page. Get everything written down and shared in the cloud as well as in hard copy format.
Finally, make sure you talk about time commitments. Don’t assume that both you of think exactly the same on this subject.
