10 Reasons Your Friend Won’t want You as Their Business Partner

Lets give the scenario that might lead to the consideration of wanting a friend as a business partner.

Lets say that you have chosen this friend as a close pal and they happened to be the right friend for you after much thought process and considerations.

You two have been great friends over since, but right now you intend to start a business and you are considering if this friend will be a perfect fit for you.

Should you go ahead with it or not? Or should your friend do the same with you?

Starting a business with a friend can seem like an exciting prospect, but it’s not always a straightforward decision. Even if you think you’d make a great friend as business partner, your friend might have reservations.

It becomes a different playing ground when the issue of business springs up because it requires a different set of mindset.

Depending on how close you are with that friend who might even be your best friend, when it comes to having a friend as a business partner, their would be a thought through process that they have to overcome in order to decide whether to let you in or not.

Let’s explore ten surprising reasons why your friend might hesitate to bring you on board as their business partner, and what you can do to address these concerns.

1. Lack of Professional Trust

While your friend may trust you personally, they might have doubts about your professional reliability. Trust in a friend as business partner involves faith in one’s work ethic, consistency, and ability to handle responsibilities.

To build professional trust you might want to consider the following:

• Demonstrate reliability in both personal and professional contexts.
• Be transparent about your capabilities and limitations.
• Follow through on commitments consistently.

This will likely be one of their reasons for not wanting to get into business with you. If they do not trust you professionally, then it becomes a red flag for them. But if you take appropriate steps to work on those points, then you will stand a better chance at convincing them to let you in.

2. Perceived Lack of Business Acumen

If there is a chance that your friend believe you lack business sense or the willingness to improve, then it become a challenge for them. This perception can be a significant barrier, even if you have a strong personal relationship.

If you are serious about wanting to ride with them in the business then you must come out to address their doubts about you.

You can try to do the following:

• Express genuine interest in learning about business.
• Take initiative to educate yourself on business basics.
• Share your ideas and show enthusiasm for potential business ventures.

You have to be positive and show that you are willing to learn and to go the extra mile with them in moving the business forward.

3. Concerns About Emotional Intelligence

You can’t talk about a business without talking about your emotional skills. Your level of emotional intelligence in real time will be on the loads of things to be put into consideration.

If you are someone who is always high in your emotions and does makes most of your decisions based on how you feel and not based on facts as it should be, then you might have a hard time convincing them to let you in.

Business decisions often require objectivity. If your friend perceives you as overly emotional or unable to separate personal feelings from professional judgments, they might hesitate to partner with you.

You can take some steps to improve in this area:

• Practice emotional regulation techniques.
• Learn to give and receive constructive feedback without taking it personally.
• Demonstrate your ability to make objective decisions in challenging situations.

Try to understand more about what emotional intelligence is and what it is not.

Try as much as possible to learn how to enhance your emotional skills to a point where they are convinced that you can get the job done.

4. Difficulty Separating Friendship from Business

There is a chance that your friend might worry that you lack the ability to maintain clear boundaries between your personal relationship and professional responsibilities.

No one wants a friend as a business partner if they feel that the friend is someone who does not understand that there is a line between business decisions and friendship decisions.

In order to help clear their doubts about you when this is likely to be their challenge, you can try the following:

• Discuss and agree on clear boundaries between personal and professional matters.
• Practice maintaining these boundaries in your current interactions.
• Show that you can handle disagreements professionally without affecting your friendship.

You must understand that when people are in business, they do not want to waste their time addressing personal issues when they can put in that same time in growing their business. So try not to be the time wasting issue that they may feel would draw them back.

5. Fear of Being Outsmarted or Manipulated

When a friends is considering having you as their business partner, but at the same time they fear that you have the tendency of likely changing along the line due to your manipulative attitude which they may have seen over the years, then that would pose a serious challenge in their mind.

If you’ve demonstrated a tendency to always want the upper hand or to use your intelligence to your advantage at others’ expense, it could make your friend hesitant to enter a business partnership with you.

What you can do to to alleviate this concern is to try the following:

• Demonstrate ethical behavior consistently.
• Be transparent in your dealings and decision-making processes.
• Show that you value fairness and mutual benefit over personal gain.

Make sure that you are being genuine about being transparent and showing fairness in your dealings with them. If possible suggest that you two have a written legal agreement which will make sure that everyone is in check.

6. Misaligned Risk Tolerance

When it comes to risk, your friend as a business partner might perceive a mismatch in how you both approach risk.

If one of you is more risk-averse while the other is a risk-taker, it could lead to conflicts in business decisions.

When you have a friend as a business partner, one of the major challenges you would come across will be how you take on the market. And if you seem to always want to play it safe all the time as a person, they might find that a little discouraging or if they are the ones who loves to play safe and you like taking more risks, then there would be a gap between you two reaching your goals.

You can try to address this by trying any of this:

• Have open discussions about your risk tolerance levels.
• Find ways to balance each other’s approaches to risk.
• Develop a shared strategy for managing business risks.

You might want to learn on how you can improve on how you see risk in general. If you have to take programs and trainings to learn that, then you should. That will equally show him how committed you are to improving.

7. Differing Work Styles and Ethics

If you have a whole diverse style of work ethics and style which is far apart, it may prove to be a problem to your friend if they observe the differences in how you both approach work. This could cause concerns about compatibility as business partners.

You can try to improve your compatibility rate by:

• Discussing your work styles openly and finding ways to complement each other.
• Demonstrating your work ethic in current projects or collaborations.
• Being open to adapting your work style for the benefit of the partnership.

You must understand that when it comes to being business partners, a whole lot comes into play which is more than their is in the surface.

8. Financial Incompatibility

One of the thought through processes your friend will consider when trying to decide whether to bring you in as a business partner will be a concern about how you think about money in general.

Concerns about financial responsibility or differing views on money management could make your friend hesitant to enter a business partnership with you.

You might want to consider addressing some of the following financial concerns:

• Be transparent about your financial situation and management style.
• Discuss financial expectations and responsibilities clearly.
• Consider taking a financial management course together.

Aside for offering value in business, money is the sole engine that can keep a business floating. You need to understand how important the issue of finance is for a business.

9. Lack of Shared Vision

If your friend worry that you don’t share the same long-term vision for the business, this could lead to conflicts down the road.

Being best of friends is just so different from having a friend as a business partner. If they sense that you do not share similar visions about a lot of things in life including how a business should be ran, then chances are that they wouldn’t want you in the same space when they are making business decisions.

You must try to align your visions with theirs if it is important to you.

To align your visions you can try the following:

• Have in-depth discussions about your business goals and aspirations.
• Create a shared vision statement for the potential business.
• Be open to compromise and finding common ground.

Always make sure that you have the business fundamental goals in heart, else you will be perceived as one who isnt so much into growing the business.

10. Fear of Damaging the Friendship

Your friend having you as a business partner can in one way or the other damage the perfect friendship and relationship you have built over the years.

Your friend might fear that entering a business partnership with you could jeopardize your friendship if things don’t work out. You have to have this at the back of your mind when you are thinking of why your friend wouldn’t want you as a business partner.

You can try to address this fear by trying the following:

• Acknowledge the risks and discuss them openly.
• Create a plan for how you’ll handle disputes or if the partnership doesn’t work out.
• Emphasize the strength of your friendship and your commitment to preserving it, regardless of business outcomes.

Finding good friends in life can be a difficult thing as it takes a lot of time and energy to nurture. The fear of losing a friend can make your friends not to want you as a business partner. Because business comes with a lot of ups and downs and can spring off a lot of emotions.

Bottom Line on reasons your friend wont make you their business partner

Its important to note that the playing ground isn’t the same when you are just friends and when you are in business especially when you want your friend as a business partner.

Becoming business partners with a friend is a significant decision that goes beyond the bounds of friendship. It requires careful consideration of professional skills, emotional intelligence, shared values, and long-term compatibility.

By understanding these potential concerns, you can work on addressing them proactively.

If you’re hoping to become your friend’s business partner, have an open and honest conversation about these issues. Address them head-on and work together to find solutions.

Remember, a strong business partnership requires more than just friendship – it needs mutual trust, shared goals, clear communication, and a commitment to professional growth.

By focusing on these areas and demonstrating your value as a potential business partner, you can increase your chances of turning your friendship into a successful professional relationship.

However, always be prepared for the possibility that your friend may still choose a different path, and be ready to support their decision while maintaining your friendship.

Sources:

1. NerdWallet – Starting a Business With a Friend: Important Dos and Don’ts: This article covers best practices and potential pitfalls when starting a business with a friend¹.
2. StartUp Mindset – 18 Businesses You Can Start with Friends: Offers ideas and inspiration for business ventures you can start with friends².
3. Harvard Business Review – Can Friends Be Successful Co-Founders?: Discusses the dynamics of founding a startup with a friend and how to navigate potential challenges³.
4. SCORE – 7 Tips for Making a Business Partnership Work: Provides practical advice on how to maintain a successful business partnership⁴.
5. Beresford Booth – Legal Considerations When Starting A New Business With Friends Or Family: Highlights the legal aspects to consider when starting a business with friends⁵.