Recently I partnered with my friends to create a company. I know partnering with friends is always very risky. But I did this because I felt they have the same work ethic as me. However, there are some signs that could be potential red flags. Right now i am the only founder but was planning to add them later. It has been already 2 months of founding a company but I felt there hasnt been any progress made. We have a meeting just once a week. I have done graphic design for the logo but they were thinking about using logo maker platform. I had no problem with that but in the end They decided to use my design. However, during previous I reminded them to think about slogan but still havent received any and its been 2-3 weeks. One day I asked them send document that is quite important for company, but they forgot about it. How should I approach this problem? Should I raise the issue with them directly and see if they grow and change. Or do you think it’s hopeless and give it up. I know they have study to do, but all of us wanted it badly, so I felt it doesn’t make excuse.
If you have a signed agreement for this useless partnership, please dissolve it now, or leave the partnership as per clauses in agreement and go register your own company. This isn’t going to go anywhere good for you.
Focus on your business model and who to hire for roles you cannot do. That’s it.
In business, speed is everything. After 2 months you should have a company, a website, a bank account, and probably customers and products and a bank balance!
Ditch this lot and go alone. Or just forget the whole shebang. By the sound of it they won’t even notice for 6 months anyway.
Business isn’t a game.
You sound like somebody with initiative who’s getting the ball rolling on their entrepreneurship journey. I’ll give you the perspective I wish somebody gave me when I was starting.
You will be an absolute pro in 10 years at the startup game if you stick with it, stay pragmatic, and most importantly learn from your mistakes. The last part is very important, there are very few paths to success that don’t involve failure. The important skill for you to learn at this stage is to fail gracefully.
You’re at the logo and slogan phase of this company, so the stakes are low. If you bring in partners that don’t work out, try to learn that quickly. If you don’t and it tanks the company, understand that your fifth or sixth company is probably the one that will really take off. And that experience you had a long time ago with those founders who couldn’t even get you a slogan on time will be the reason you choose good founders for company six.
I know this might not help you solve your current problem, but hopefully it’ll give you something to help figure out other problems.
Partnerships should have an ironclad agreement showing who’s responsible for what and how much time they need to dedicate. If you don’t feel he’s dedicating the time then force him to track his hours, just like employees and bosses do. You two are eachothers bosses and need to keep eachother in line
If you feel that your founders are not enough, try to continue as a solo founder or guarantee all future scenarios if you want to continue as a solo.
Slogans, logos, company names, all are so low on the totem pole of what’s important in the beginning. Focus on solving a painful problem, monetizing the product/service, and repeating it for more people.
Don’t waste time on these menial things.
This is the answer
Seems like there’s no accountability check going on… I would be very careful when that happens…
ask them what they believe is reasonable commitment and what they expect as compensation. ask them how they feel partnering will match with their aspirations. - you’ll likely get a feel for how serious they are from their responses.
don’t do anything related to pay or equity until you see proof of their commitment - make sure the reward is proportional to their contribution. with equity, 1 year cliff 4 year vesting is typical.
in your specific case, seems like your friend isn’t particularly committed, either they dont know how they should be involved, they under estimated your expectations and the level of commitment needed, or they aren’t particularly serious.
ultimately, if they haven’t contributed, then you should cut your losses and move faster.
Are you in a high school and this is really just a project you are mulling?
Or are you adults and this is registered as a business and you have or will have products, customers, revenue etc?
It may not actually matter that much. If you are unable to get the logo and slogan done you gotta can this thing.
But how you end it depends on how real it is if it is real. If you are just kids and it is just a fantasy, then walk away and play a different game.
What happens if you sign a legal document confirming your partnership then your partners stop contributing? I am in this situation, I make just enough to live on but because my partner ghosted me and doesnt contribute I am trapped and have lost all motivation. Just bear in mind the best intentions are all well and good but people’s situations change and their commitment may not match yours so ensure you have an out should things go sour with your partners.
It’s important to learn from this and move on as quickly as possible. It’ll probably be noisy and you’ll lose friends but… Lesson learned.
A logo, basic website and slogan (which you shouldn’t even waste time on) should be done in a couple days, at most. Wasting months on a logo and a slogan isn’t running a business or starting a company, it’s just hanging out with your friends.
I don’t think you all wanted it badly. I think they like the idea of having a business without any commitment to actually working. You will be better off going solo.
Sounds like you need to do a lot of learning first before getting into building a business at all, never mind with these people.
Doesn’t sound like a business to be honest ; sounds like a side hustle - hence the passive progress