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At any stage in building your clothing line you may decide that the workload is too heavy and you don?t want to hire anyone (You would have to pay a salary) so you decide to develop a partnership with someone where you would just share a percentage or equal ownership within your company. As you know each stage of growth with your clothing line requires more and more money, also more and more responsibility which can sometimes be frustrating and stressful. Someone that can help you along the way when you?re slacking off and vice/versa could keep
you from an eventual burnout.

Deciding to go into a partnership can be a tricky situation especially if you?re thinking about a family member or friend. From my experiences I wouldn?t do it, because when all is said and done if you value their friendship don?t mix business with it you will most likely end the partnership along with the friendship. Going into business with a friend or relative has its pros and cons. I will identify a few of them below:

Pros:

  • Automatic trust. (You don?t have to worry about money situations or being uneasy when handling business)
  • You already know their work ethic. (Kind of a double standard see cons)
  • You know them as a person so you can easily identify their strength and weaknesses to see if they complement yours. (very important)

Cons:

  • Take advantage of the fact that they?re your family/friend. (Slacking off, Missing deadlines, Showing up late repeatedly)
  • You know their work ethic when hired by a total stranger not working with you. Most people seem to work differently when working for a family or friend.
  • Take business decisions personal, because you are more than just a partner.
  • Bring your friendship into the partnership. Outside problems that don?t directly correlate with the business are brought into the partnership.

Watch out for part 2…Choosing the right partner and identifying your weakness

Fashion Industry Ceo



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2 Responses to “Partnerships in business: (Families and Friends) Part 1”

  1. Cris Says:

    Good point, I started a brand with a friend I know for many years not long ago and we splitted up before the first products where finished coz we recognized it wouldn’t work out in the long run. One of the major problems in our case was overlapping fields of responsibility and interest which leaded to tedious discussions espacially when it came to the designs. So we decided to walk different pathes but we still support each other …..

  2. How To Start A Clothing Line From Scratch » Blog Archive » Business Partnerships-Choosing the right partner Says:

    […] where I left off on the other article which is Part one of developing business […]