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Swirlaze-
Does your friend have any experience in REI? If not, I would suggest having him read, read, read! He should fill his head with all of the information possible. A lot of people have learned REI mistakes the hard way by just jumping into it. Have him read and work with you so he can learn. He doesn’t have $ or credit… I wouldn’t fear the risk either if I had nothing to lose, but he can learn by working with you and reading,how to invest w/out $ or credit. If you plan on covering his expenses, would it be possible for the two of you to work on a deal together? Also, have him get on the forum and post questions and read the threads, most would agree that that has helped out in some way or another.
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ten points
have him look at ten properties.
have him do all the numbers on the ten properties.
have him do a bunch of ridiculous “subject to” offers that will never get accepted in a million years and if one does, the subject to’s will get him out (see attorney)and heck if it’s a good deal, bonus.
have him figure out title insurance and title issues on every property.
have him call and speak to the 10 sellers/brokers - maybe 5 and 5.
have him look at a vacant lot.
have him talk to a developer for the vacant lot.
have him call the local town zoning and figure out the lot zoning, utilities, frontage and plans for the area.
that’s “doing” without sticking his d*ck in the grinder. if he’s too lazy to do that because he wants to make money - then move on and don’t even risk your hard-earned money. what’s in it for you anyway? a partnership of sorts? does your friend have some kind of skill that will benefit you/your company? or is he just your friend and this is a friend thing?
hey jryan, what’s up man!?
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I agree he's gotta do some "hands on" investing. I wasn't sure if he had started reading and/or getting familiar with the basics of REI yet.
I suggested working on a project or two with you first and then gradually get on his own feet at one point or another. But, I think TMCG has laid out a pretty solid plan or at least starting point. Good luck!
ryan made an even better suggestion. have him work for you on a few deals. maybe have him bird dog or something. find a deal, put one together for your company. rip him to shreds, have him start over. shadowing you on your business ventures will only work a little. people learn from doing, plain and simple.
i wasn’t suggesting that your friend is lazy. sorry if i rubbed you wrong. one thing i know, from past experience, is for me, doing business with friends is difficult.
i don’t care if you’ve been friends for 30 years. their ain’t no friends in business, only associates who help each other out. any friendships are jeopardized by doing business together. i owned a small company with 90 customers with my best friend and we almost killed each other. we sold it and got out based solely on the fact that our business ideas clashed and that made our friendship clash. again, from my experience, it’s real hard to seperate the two, and i would go as far as to say, it’s impossible.
that being said, i’m not saying that you can’t be friends and have a business. not at all, certainly you can be best friends, even family and run a successful business, large or small…but no matter what, being in business WILL effect your friendship.
don’t do your friend a “favor”. - go into business with him. lay out the goals and objectives and do business together. have clear boundries and if creativity and cash are a mutual agreement and a passion…AND A SKILL - then go for it. consider outside hired managers even. then you as members/owners will not have to blame each other for business decisions and your passions won’t cloud good business judgement. lay out organizational goals, apply them to your employees who will run your business, sticking to their fudiciary responsibilities. that may be a long term goal, but nevertheless, map it out…how are you two going to get there. bottom line, your friend MUST bring something to the table in order for you to feel that you’re not carrying your him. that may become a big issue.
good luck.
along the lines of the last post, the first question to ask yourself is “I am prepared to lose this friend”. If the answer is no, then stop now. Going into business with someone just becuase they are a long time friend is a really bad way to go. Many partnerships start out with good intention do not work out. In extreme cases, people end up in ocurt sueing each other.
In my own experience, I had a partnership (with friends) that did not work out and we ended up parting way on semi-civil terms, but my relationship with them is almost non-existant. It can happen to ANYONE so don’t think your exempt in some way from that possibility
Amen to both those posts.
One of the biggest problems I personally had when working with friends is I am very passionate about REI and anything else I enjoy doing. If your friend isn't as passionate about REI as you, then you could clash very easily. Most people that have invested know that hard times come and go, but it's the people than recognize mistakes, learn, and improve, that make it in this business.
If you feel good about going into business with him or helping him out, share your knowledge, skills, etc. but don't do the work for him. After you feel like he's in it for the long haul and youy feel like you can really work as a partner or whatever else you want to, then I would do it.