February, 2007:

My parents always tell me not to do business with family and close friends. It is interesting how most people, including myself, would want to do business with best friends, but the wise would suggest it is not a smart choice. After hearing stories and explanations I can see from their perspective.

In business, everything comes down to money. And where there’s money, there’s human conflict. I have heard many stories where families members get together to start a business and end up in nasty fights, which tears apart family relationships. My mother told me about a story of two sisters who nearly killed each other. Their business went sour and one of the sisters thought the other one took the money. So, believing the other sister had betrayed her, she almost burned down the other sister’s apartment. These stories sound extreme, but I have heard several of these and they were people I have met before when I was younger. And some of them were my relatives.

Certainly, there are success stories. When there are profits and no conflicts, there are happy faces. But what if things don’t go well? What if your best friend/relative does not like the way you run the business and associates that negativity in your relationship. Here’s a question to ask before starting a business with a close friend or relative. Is it worth putting the close relationship at stake?