The first time I failed, I was 23 years old. I had gone into business partnership with my best friend and we opened our first hospitality venue.
We carefully discussed the dangers of a business partnership and devised a professional partnership agreement.
We set up our business with enthusiasm and excitement, yet within six months, our partnership collapsed. It turned out that what we wanted wasn't the same thing. The direction we wanted the business to go diverged quickly.
We had different working methods—I’m scrappy and creative, while my business partner was careful and considered. He liked order; I thrived in chaos.
For two young people in their early 20s with no experience of working in teams or leading others, we found no way of communicating.
We didn’t know that chalk and cheese can be a perfect partnership.
Had we persevered, we might have found that our skills and approaches were a magical combination.
All we could see at the time was that our relationship was not functioning well and our expectations of each other were not being met.
He thought I was not performing well in my role, and I thought he was not achieving in his role.
It was a nasty fallout.
While the business remained intact, our friendship didn’t. Ten years of friendship lost because, in essence, we didn’t know how to communicate with each other.
Since then, I have learned many new skills—leadership, teamwork, collaboration, and how not to be a total control freak!
We have both gone on to huge success in the industry.
Between us, we have set up and operated nine very successful venues in Leicestershire.
We are friends again now.
Business is tough, and while I don’t regret the decision to put our businesses ahead of our friendship, it’s amazing what a lifetime of experience can teach you.
What strikes me so much when I visit any of his venues is how much I LOVE them.
They resonate with my values and approach to the industry.
Imagine if we’d known then what we know now—how much easier we could have made the journey for each other.
