We ’ve all had days like this : You ’re sitting at your desk while fluorescent fixture light beam down on you . In one windowpane is an e-mail from your boss criticizing you for something menial and in the other you ’re chatting with your friend about quitting your Job and finally opening that cake , like you ’ve talked about doing since college . You intend , I could break away into my boss ’s federal agency mightily now and say , “ Screw it all , Bob ! I ’m giving notification . ”This is the sidereal day you grow the bar dream into a realism ! And guess what ? Once you do , NO redemption for Bob .
So here ’s a interrogation : Why not ?
Anything less than 100% commitment is 0%
If you ’re going to start a business together and truly succeed , it ’s going to take a few affair : money , some more money , and … an insanely computer - savvy guy to build you a sweet-scented site . ( You thought the third one was gon na be more money , did n’t you ? )
away from resources and a radical , starting a company with a partner who ’s also part of your personal life means you both want a desire for something more , an level cacoethes , and you need to believe in your mathematical product and yourselves more than ever you consider in the Tooth Fairy when you were 9 .
But do n’t just think of passion as an emotion ; when it come to starting a business , passion is the force that compels first - time entrepreneurs to discontinue everything else they ’re doing and , in the case of Alexis Gallivan and Jennie Dundas , open up an shabu cream store .
Natalie Chitwood/Courtesy of Pipcorn
The two did n’t have sex anything about business when they spread Brooklyn ’s firstBlue Marble Ice Creamin 2007 . They actually did n’t even know how to make ice cream . But Dundas says their love for the idea and their drive recount them they had to do it . “ [ Alexis ] just had this inspiration and I shared it now , ” Dundas says . “ So we made the determination to kind of climb up off the cliff together . ”
And after they jumped , they quickly see the importance of stimulate each other . Because of their unaired relationship , they were able to take challenges head word on – like opening their second location just six months after their first . Dundas explains they were approached by their now landlord about the place in Prospect Heights just month after opening their first easy lay workshop . The rent was unbeatable , “ but we just went through a winter , so we were lose money in the commencement and did n’t have a lot of imagination , ” she says . “ So Alexis was really hesitant to jump into another fix before we had proven the example could work . ”
But Dundas had a strong intuition about the second workshop , so she secured a loan with the trust and musical accompaniment of her business partner , and opened the second Blue Marble .
Courtesy of Blue Marble Ice Cream
Nine class afterwards , Blue Marble has three soap shops and its non - profit organization , Blue Marble Dreams , builds ice ointment shops with cleaning woman in stressed areas like Rwanda and Haiti . That ’s the power of Passion of Christ .
You have to really,reallytrust your partner
Dundas and Gallivan were n’t the only first - time enterpriser to take that figural leap together;RAINRAPSfounders Stacy Struminger and Rachel Teyssier built their caller from the ground up after Struminger contrive the production – what she describes as “ a pashmina for the factor . ” It ’s a stylish , waterproof way to stay warm , which Struminger herself require , suppose she was always “ prepared for the cold restaurant , the cold-blooded movie theater , but never prepared for the rain . ”
They developed business know - how as they give way along , and continue to learn more every day . Something they discovered early on , however , is the grandness of trusting your collaborator – which comes easy when your job partner is your best friend .
Struminger allege their friendship realise dealing with byplay transactions wide-eyed . “ We intrust each other to compose tab , make alluviation , keep money [ dependable ] , ” she explains . “ There ’s nothing I would never not trust her on , and that ’s such an important thing in business sector . ”
Courtesy of RAINRAPS
Siblings Jen and Jeff Martin of Pipcorn ( you know , the tiny popcorn you watch onShark Tankand now buy six bagful of every time you ’re in Whole Foods ) harmonise that have a close personal family relationship makes for a better business duo . “ We like the same thing and more importantly , we do n’t like the same thing – which wee it ideal to be business pardner because our inherent aptitude and values are the same , ” says Jen . “ There are so many decisiveness we do n’t take to have big conversations about , which allow us to control faster and more expeditiously . ”
But don’t forget to find a work/play balance
Because you ’re close ally , you ’re probably gon na need to keep it that fashion . It ’s easy to get caught up in the business , but you need to remember to take time for your personal human relationship . The Martins say this was the most difficult part of learn to work together . “ The biggest mistake collaborator make is not separating the business and personal relationships , ” says Jen . And for this brother and sis team , maintain that personal relationship was crucial . The two scantily even recall each other growing up since they come from a family of four siblings , but once they at long last acquire penny-pinching in gamy schoolhouse , they became good protagonist .
“ It is so important to make time to [ both ] take forethought of the understructure of the business and apprise having one another , ” Jen bestow . If not , what ends up happening is that the personal relationship dissipates , “ when in fact , [ that ] is what allow you to start and get to where you are in the first place , ” tally you ’ll have to “ maintain and respect both kinship – especially as the business grow and matures . ”
And speaking of balance… balance each other out
Whether you clearly set role or not is up to you and your partner / BFF / brother from another mother , but verify all your basis are breed . Over at RAINRAPS , the line are slightly more blurred when it comes to the ladies ’ roles . While Struminger design the mathematical product and Teyssier deal tech , their old age of experience have teach Struminger enough to mistreat into any role when she call for to .
“ Alexis was really great at administrative chore and I ’m horrendous at administrative tasks , ” says Blue Marble ’s Dundas . “ She ’s really great at dot i ’s and foil t ’s and I ’m a minuscule more just jump blindly through the hoop or into the flaming . ” However Dundas says Gallivan did n’t have as large an appetency for risk as she did , and their combined skills mollify each other to make a business work . So while both “ were willing and able-bodied to flap up our sleeves and do an unlimited amount of study , ” as Dundas allege , their dissimilar personalities were what give the business the Libra the Scales it take to benefit from that work .
Be able to take breaks from each other
After a longsighted day at the office , there ’s nothing better than meeting your Friend for happy hour and venting about work . But when your closest friends are your colleagues , you regain yourself lecture about investor and jot down down note while you ’re waiting to order a crapulence . ( Why ’d you go to that bar anyway ? You know it ’s always pack . )
So for the rice beer of their friendly relationship , Dundas and Gallivan started to separate socially once they felt Blue Marble was at a good spot . “ We were just so saturated with each other , ” Dundas say . “ We were together 24/7 for the first two - to - three years because grow the business is like the only affair that matter . I ingest no vacations , no mean solar day off , and [ Alexis ] was the same agency . ”
After those first few years , the two realise they need to have lives outside of the line . “ Eventually you have to start carving meter out for yourself [ or else ] you say , ‘ What ’s the point of all this ? ’ ”
Natalie Chitwood/Courtesy of Pipcorn
“ It ’s like a spousal relationship , ” add together Dundas , “ You go through phase where you ’re pissed by matter that do n’t really matter . What I ’m so proud of and so thankful for is that Alexis and I have manage to remain very , very close friends – even though we ’ve been through times where I ’m certain she want to throw me across the room . ”
And there ’s a worthful example to be find out in all of this . What makes someone a great business partner is more than just their acquisition set or how well you get along in the short - condition .
“ Would you have a baby with this person ? Would you share something that ’s hold dear and that you ’re devoted to ? ” Dundas advises . “ stimulate that ’s what it ’s like . Your finances are totally intertwine , your sidereal day to Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , everything is intertwined . ”
But arriere pensee aside for a second , everyone ’s favorite boss Michael Scott once said , “ The people that you puzzle out with are , when you get down to it , your very good friend . ”The Officeschlub may have put the Dunder in Dunder Miflin , but there ’s no intellect he has to be wrong here . So when you have that next lightbulb moment , take it to your close pal and you ’ll already be one footfall beforehand of the game .
