Profile photo for Hector Quintanilla

I learned this lesson the hard way …

I was with my best friend having a beer, laughing and enjoying our conversation. Somehow the beers were having a good effect and things were starting to look bright…

“I have an idea: let’s start a business!”

And just like that, our friendship started down a different path. We were excited, we trusted each other, we had a very clear dream of where we wanted to go, so we started to work towards our project.

Very soon, small misunderstandings started happening, yet we ignored them because we were “best friends.”

We got locked into the business after we made our financial investment meanwhile investing more and more time and energy into the project.

Difficult conversations needed to have happened. They never did. We had no formal agreement, and soon it was too late to even talk about them …

Problems and misunderstandings started to build up quickly, and eventually the beers ended. Then the fun ended. This negative energy went into the business which led to a business failure.

The friendship ended.

To answer your question: What should an entrepreneur never do?

Don’t jump into a business venture just because of friendship! It’s incredibly easy to get involved for the wrong reasons.

John D. Rockefeller has a great quote:

“A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.”

Handling business and friendship is extremely complex — it demands mature individuals to make it work.

View 100+ other answers to this question
About · Careers · Privacy · Terms · Contact · Languages · Your Ad Choices · Press ·
© Quora, Inc. 2025