In Noam Wasserman’s book, The Founder’s Dilemmas, he explores whether it’s a good idea to co-found with relatives and friends, highlighting how relationships can suffer from going into business together.
Wasserman, a former professor at Harvard Business School, studied 10,000 start-ups, of which 40% were founded by friends. His 2012 research showed that companies with friend-founders were less likely to succeed, and each social connection on the founding team increased the likelihood of a founder’s departure by 30%.
On the flip side, some of the world’s most valuable brands—think Microsoft, Google, and Apple—were started by friends. This positive angle resonates with us. We’ve been BFFs for over nine years and launched our business, POP Communications, seven years ago.
We met at work and instantly clicked—the same sense of humour, work ethic, and a knack for finding the sunny side of life. Add in our shared love for wine, celebrations, and good vibes, and it was a match made in Dubai heaven. Built on a foundation of mutual respect, we founded our Dubai-based PR agency, POP Communications, and the rest is history.
Over the years, we’ve often been asked two questions: How has your friendship and business endured? And how are you not sick of each other? Many people are wary of going into business with friends, asking, “Is it a good idea to go into business with your best friend?”
The truth is, we are just lucky. We’ve seen many business and friendship relationships fall apart. In our naivety, we’ve also brought other friends into the business, which didn’t work out. We’ve learned that making a friendship and business partnership work is quite unique.
When we first decided to go into business together, we created a checklist of priorities. We identified what was most important to us and why we wanted to start the business. This checklist has been our guiding light through the turbulence of running a business.
Here are some of the reasons why we’ve been able to make our friendship/business relationship work:
- Get to know each other’s drives and motivations: Before diving into the business world, we took the time to understand what makes each other tick. Knowing what drives and motivates each other has helped us stay on the same page and push each other in the right direction.
- Friendship first, business second: We make it a point to spend quality time together as friends, not just as business partners. Whether it’s a girls’ night out or a weekend getaway, nurturing our friendship keeps our bond strong.
- Agree to disagree: We’ve learned that it’s okay not to agree on everything. Expecting perfection is a recipe for frustration. If one of us feels strongly about something, we trust each other enough to go with it.
- Trust is key: Trusting each other implicitly has been crucial. We know that we have each other’s backs, no matter what.
- Embrace mistakes together: We’re not afraid to make mistakes together. If something doesn’t work out, we’re in it together – it’s not about blame, it’s about learning and moving forward.
- Celebrate every milestone: Celebrating even the small wins keeps us motivated. Whether it’s a coffee date or a fancy dinner, acknowledging our achievements reminds us of how far we’ve come.
- Capture the journey: Taking lots of pictures helps us reflect on our journey. Looking back at old photos reminds us why we started and provides plenty of laughs.
For aspiring friendpreneurs, we advise having a practical checklist of boundaries, expectations, and legal agreements. These tools have helped protect both our friendship and business. Even though the data is daunting, don’t let it discourage you. There are success stories, and with honest conversations, you can go into business with your bestie!
To follow our journey, you can reach out on our personal Instagram accounts Zainab at @reinemichi, Sarah at @sarahzimbo, or our company, POP Communications, at @popcomms.