So my best friend is also my business partner. He and I are both (ownership) partners in a branch of a larger mortgage bank. He and I are doing good business and we're set to make a lot of money in 2012, a ton of money in 2013 and illegal money in 2014. He and I have very different personalities, but they tend to complement each other well. I'm the analytical office guy who is great at synthesizing ideas into actions and he's really good with people, great at coming up with ideas and developing business. I'm a negative all the time person and he's a positive all the time person--basically, he and I are annoyingly polar opposite. He has trouble dealing with my racist, sexist, acerbic and generally unlikeable personality and sour disposition and I have trouble dealing with his unreliability, disorganization and the fact that he is very critical of me all the time, which is obnoxious. For example, I have to deal with all of the issues of the business, good and bad. He is in the field all the time partying it up with people and enjoying himself. When he calls me up I can be pretty "sober" about how the business is running and this "negativity" causes him to shut down and get depressed. Then he'll criticize me for being a negative person and for being ungrateful.
Every 2-3 weeks he and I have a knock down, drag out (non-physical) fight, and it usually ends up with some pretty hurtful and personal words exchanged. We just had one about an hour ago.
Do any of you have any similar circumstances you've dealt with? Any suggestions as to how to deal with business partners who you genuinely LIKE a lot and respect but who you have strong personality conflicts with?
Figured a business board might have some insight into personal business relationships.
Do we need therapy?
Deal with it.
I usually follow two rules that I learned in college: never live with best friends or do business with best friends, you are destined to despise each other due to always being with each other 24/7. It is hard to remain professional on the job when you know everything about the other, and what pisses them off deep down.
Doing business with friends or family is usually a bad idea. However what I have heard works great is those people who are business partnets first then friends later. I fortunately don't have a problem being in business with family considering I am not around 99% of the time.
Well, thank God he is out of the office 4 days a week. I think it would be impossible if we were both in the office a lot. But we talk on the phone 30-60 minutes a day and hang out on the weekends...
Just pray you do not loose money.
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