Hi guys,
I need some advice from experienced business owners really.
I and a friend have started company that will sell a line of men's grooming products.
My friend has always been the more business minded of the two of us, I am actually newly qualified doctor, and his family has it's own businesses etc. so I have always expected him to be the real business brains behind our operation. Indeed it's his family (I am told) that will be investing the capital needed to start our business.
The issue I'm having is that we are now about 6 months into our startup and I feel as though I have done the majority of the work and that my partner's dedication and enthusiasm is quite lacking.
We delegated jobs between us initially, however 6 months on and I have done essentially all of them. I produced the initial product designs, I built the website, I found our manufacturer and arranged our first meeting with them, we both approached packaging manufacturers but I am the only one to have gotten samples and a quote and if we go with the company that I found then we are already ready for prototype production. I wrote the trademark application for our business, I produced a sales forecast, I am currently about 1/3rd of the way through a detailed business plan. He expressed an interest initially in doing the market research but this seemed to entail digging up some web reports that I found on Google myself in about 5 minutes, and since then I have produced my own piece of original market research surveying well over 100 consumers.
From his side, there is very little left that he was initially delegated that I haven't already done now, all I can think of is business cards.. And he hasn't made those either.
Don't get me wrong, he is very intelligent, business savvy and he knows a lot about men's grooming, more than myself - but I just feel like I am the only one really showing much enthusiasm anymore. I actually feel reluctant to discuss business with him lately, even if it's just to hype each other up, because he usually changes the subject quickly or simply dismisses me as "rushing things".
I know I am impatient, but I also know that there's no need to waste time when there is work to be done. He seems to relish in going back to the drawing board or delaying things. For example he insisted to me that we didn't need to even think about approaching buyers just yet, which sounded odd to me, so I wrote to our manufacturer and asked them what their thoughts were, and the first line of their reply was "you should approach buyers now".
Two things things recently are especially worrying. He actually used the phrase "I don't intend to make much money from this business" multiple times in the last 2 weeks, which, for a national retail business, sounds like suicide. Even if you don't expect to make millions, you have to convince retailers that the business is worth their time, and "not making much money" is not going to interest anyone.
Secondly, he seems to be constantly fritting from idea to idea about other things he wants to do in life. "Maybe I'll be a pharmacist" "maybe I'll go back to uni" "maybe I'll set up a restaurant".. Each of those things takes up near enough all of your time and as far as I'm concerned you don't achieve anything significant in life, much less start a successful retail business, without being 100% dedicated to it.
So my question is where to go from here... I am 100% behind this business and I know it can be very successful, but all the signs he is giving me lately are extremely worrying.
I need some advice from experienced business owners really.
I and a friend have started company that will sell a line of men's grooming products.
My friend has always been the more business minded of the two of us, I am actually newly qualified doctor, and his family has it's own businesses etc. so I have always expected him to be the real business brains behind our operation. Indeed it's his family (I am told) that will be investing the capital needed to start our business.
The issue I'm having is that we are now about 6 months into our startup and I feel as though I have done the majority of the work and that my partner's dedication and enthusiasm is quite lacking.
We delegated jobs between us initially, however 6 months on and I have done essentially all of them. I produced the initial product designs, I built the website, I found our manufacturer and arranged our first meeting with them, we both approached packaging manufacturers but I am the only one to have gotten samples and a quote and if we go with the company that I found then we are already ready for prototype production. I wrote the trademark application for our business, I produced a sales forecast, I am currently about 1/3rd of the way through a detailed business plan. He expressed an interest initially in doing the market research but this seemed to entail digging up some web reports that I found on Google myself in about 5 minutes, and since then I have produced my own piece of original market research surveying well over 100 consumers.
From his side, there is very little left that he was initially delegated that I haven't already done now, all I can think of is business cards.. And he hasn't made those either.
Don't get me wrong, he is very intelligent, business savvy and he knows a lot about men's grooming, more than myself - but I just feel like I am the only one really showing much enthusiasm anymore. I actually feel reluctant to discuss business with him lately, even if it's just to hype each other up, because he usually changes the subject quickly or simply dismisses me as "rushing things".
I know I am impatient, but I also know that there's no need to waste time when there is work to be done. He seems to relish in going back to the drawing board or delaying things. For example he insisted to me that we didn't need to even think about approaching buyers just yet, which sounded odd to me, so I wrote to our manufacturer and asked them what their thoughts were, and the first line of their reply was "you should approach buyers now".
Two things things recently are especially worrying. He actually used the phrase "I don't intend to make much money from this business" multiple times in the last 2 weeks, which, for a national retail business, sounds like suicide. Even if you don't expect to make millions, you have to convince retailers that the business is worth their time, and "not making much money" is not going to interest anyone.
Secondly, he seems to be constantly fritting from idea to idea about other things he wants to do in life. "Maybe I'll be a pharmacist" "maybe I'll go back to uni" "maybe I'll set up a restaurant".. Each of those things takes up near enough all of your time and as far as I'm concerned you don't achieve anything significant in life, much less start a successful retail business, without being 100% dedicated to it.
So my question is where to go from here... I am 100% behind this business and I know it can be very successful, but all the signs he is giving me lately are extremely worrying.
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