How good are you at being able to separate friendships from business decisions? This shows up a lot in life and I hear about it from friends, witness it in business relationships and learned to be really good at keeping them separate.
If you blend the two, a good exercise is to get really clear on what's expected in the business roles of each person. Example: "when difficult decisions need to be made, we need to ______ (this has to be something that both parties agree to)." Having regular conversations about anything important is key to the success of combining friendship and business relationship. Transparency is really, really important in the conversations.
If you struggle with trying to decide whether to do business with a friend, it's important to step back and examine if this is a good idea before you enter into a dialog or agreement. I have some friends who hired a realtor friend to market their high-end home. The realtor's market is in a lower valued price point but they llike her, didn't want to hurt her feelings so they hired her. They are struggling a bit in finding buyers in their market. If they did it over again, they admit, they wouldn't have used her. You have to be able to make smart decisions sometimes and think about the conversation you need to have about what you need to do to be successful. You can always tell the person that this is not personal, that you like and respect them but for the sake of trying to get a transaction done, you feel like you have to use this other company/person because their reputation is they know how to market the area, are known for successes in getting homes sold quickly.
It's all about conversation, being honest, respectful and using tact when you speak. Allowing the other person to give their comments is important and can't be discounted but you also need to set some boundaries around what you have to do and stay committed to your plan if you feel it's the best avenue to take.
It takes guts, practice and thought to keep the two separate. For the sake of the friendship especially, you have to be good at speaking your truth. Sometimes you may lose a friend over the situation but if the person is a true friend, they too will step back and possibly understand why you are doing what you do. In the case of the realtor, an option could have been going with a different realtor but sharing with the friend/realtor that you recommend her to your friends and associates as you know she knows her market. And, more importantly that you value your friendship and have always made it a practice to keep the two relationships separate.
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