Yeh dosti: How starting up with a friend can be the secret recipe for success

Launching a business is not considered a good career choice in many Indian households, but when your friends come into the picture, they become your support system in more ways than one. Some friends don't just lend support, they also decide to launch a business with you. As Friendship Day rolls around, let us celebrate the beauty of friendships, acknowledge the importance of a friendly partner in a business venture and take a sneak peek into enterprises owned by friends.

StepSetGo, a Fitness app

Founders Misaal Turakhia, Abhay Pai, and Shivjeet Ghatge

YSW: How did you meet?

Shivjeet Ghatge: Misaal and I went to boarding school together (Sahyadri School, Pune) and we have been best friends since the 6th grade. We both played for the football, basketball and cricket school teams, so not only were we in class and the dormitories together, but also on the playgrounds.

YSW: Why did you decide to start up together?

SG: StepSetGo as an idea is what brought us together. Once the idea was conceived, we didn’t really need to think about how to execute it, we already knew. 

YSW: How long have you been friends?

SG: I have known Misaal for more than 15 years and Abhay for three years. Misaal and Abhay have known each other for seven years and are a perfect example of workplace brotherhood. They were both leading their own tech teams at Fork media but when they moved on from Fork to launch StepSetGo, they realised they always wanted to work together because both knew that they could push each other to make a great tech team. 

YSW: How do you maintain your friendship in the business despite the inevitable ups and downs of a startup?

SG: Whenever there’s a heated argument regarding the app the cooling off process is accelerated by one of us always saying “I understand that we all want what’s best for the application and these are our opinions. Let’s check what our user base thinks”. We also try and make sure that the three of us are responsible for different areas of the application and take the final call in a discussion, depending on who has responsibility over what’s been discussed."

YSW: What are some of the challenges you faced while working together?

SG: We only talk about work. It’s hard to take down time considering there are always things to do, clients to close, features to build and operations to optimise. Sometimes, when we meet socially, we make sure we tell each other “There you go talking about your application again.” It is just as a jab to keep a small portion of our life not about StepSetGo. 

YSW: What advice would you give to those who wants to start business with their friends?

SG: Things can get complicated really fast if there isn’t a clear distinction between the personal and professional side of our relationship. Always make sure to speak up about everything and keep your working relationship as professional as possible.

It is important to understand that all decisions are made for the sake of the business, and it’s imperative that ego and feelings are excluded in the process.

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Daftar, a co-working space

Founders Vandita Purohit and Sunanda Verma Bhatta

YSW:  How did you both meet?

Vandita Purohit: Both of us have been coached by the same mentor - Manish Gupta. I knew Amit (Sunanda's husband) earlier and Sunanda and I technically met on a retreat in Nainital for the first time.

YSW: Why did you decide to start up together?

VP: There was no deciding, honestly. It just happened. We were both pursuing our respective ideas. I had been tossing the idea of coworking for some time with her. We decided to take an office together for our respective jobs and decided to share the space. That's how it started. Eventually, our ideas went on the backburner and Daftar became mainstream.

YSW: How long have you been friends?

VP: We have been friends close to four years now.

YSW: How do you maintain your friendship in the business despite the ups and downs?

VP: I think we give each other a lot of space to experiment, make mistakes and express ourselves. The most important aspects of any relationship are having clear communication channels and giving each other plenty of space. A co-founder relationship is no different from any friendship and I believe we have done that very well. This has ensured that we respect each other, irrespective of the ups and downs and that has got us this far.

YSW: What are some of the challenges you faced while working together?

VP: Obviously, we have a difference of opinion on the work front and our working styles are very different but we are absolutely poles apart as individuals. This does create some challenges, but there is nothing that can't be resolved or addressed. I believe it's just important to acknowledge and accept each other the way we are. It's easy peasy!

YSW: What advice would you give to those who want to start a business with their friends?

VP: Starting up with friends has its pros and cons. One advice I would like to give is that - irrespective of your commonalities or differences, you have to have and believe in a common vision. If there is a difference of opinion on why you are doing what you are doing, it won't lead anywhere!

SpringPeople, an IT Training Provider

Founders Ravi Kaklasaria and Peeush Bajpai 

How did you both meet?

Ravi Kaklasaria: While classes were in progress at IIT, I would be out flying my remote-controlled planes! One of Peeush’s friends was quite fascinated by these planes. I became friends with him and he later introduced me to Peeush.

Peeush Bajpai: Ravi was a friend of a close friend at IIT and over the years at college, our friendship became stronger.  

YSW: Why did you decide to start up together?

RK & PB: After graduation, we grew in our respective careers in IT. During our years of working in the IT sector, we experienced the dissatisfaction of training delivery in the industry. Both of us were also quite put off with the general state of disarray in the field of enterprise training. As we had kept in touch, we discovered our mutual interest in addressing this issue. 

As we were quite confident about our skill sets and our ability to create something of value, we launched our ideas on redefining and reforming the training space. SpringPeople was born out of that.

With SpringPeople, we strive to deliver good, reliable, outcome and objectives-driven training. We want enterprises to feel confident to outsource their training requirements and give every professional an opportunity to learn from experts and help build their organisational capability.

YSW: How long have you been friends?

RK & PB: We have been friends since our IIT days, dating back to 1995 - 24 years!

YSW: How do you maintain your friendship in the business despite the ups and downs?

RK & PB: What has always worked for us and what we have strictly reinforced through our years of working together, is separating our personal lives from our professional lives. 

In the office or while dealing with SpringPeople concerns, we are just two business partners who are working towards the growth and progress of the company. We don’t allow our friendship to allow excuses or compromises. Just like any other business partner, we have different ways of approaching the same problem, varied styles of decision making and different working styles.

We acknowledge this and treat each other with caution. To state it simply, we enter office as business partners and leave together as friends. Our business agreements/disagreements have not been allowed to escape or spill into our friendship and vice versa.

YSW: What are some of the challenges you faced while working together?

RK:  Nothing major. Sometimes there are disagreements on ideas and convictions. We may have different ways of attacking a problem; but at the end of the day, our ideas converge.

PB: We are different personalities who have different ways of approaching the same problem. We differ in our decision making and working styles like any other business partners. I don’t think this is a challenge as it has never hindered our relationship as partners and friends. 

YSW: What advice would you give to those who want to start business with their friends?

RK: I would like to highlight the importance of keeping your personal and professional life separate from each other. Professionalism at the office is critical as it will help you survive all business hurdles with your friendship intact.

PB: One more thing I would like to add is that though friendship with your business partner is surely a boon, you should not let it lull you into a state of passivity. You need to consciously remember to demonstrate your mettle and worth to each other.

Rolls Mania, a food enterprise

Founders Puneet Kansal, Gagan Sial and Sukhpreet Sial

YSW: How did you meet? 

Gagan Sial: We met at Magarpatta City in Pune where Puneet had a small kiosk of Rolls Mania. Sukhpreet, who is my brother and I were running a restaurant at that time. We both used to go and eat the rolls and slowly we began bonding over the rolls and became great friends from then onwards.

YSW: Why did you decide to start up together? 

GS: Puneet had a Rolls Mania kiosk outside a restaurant in Magarpatta City. The restaurant owner wanted him out as Rolls Mania was doing well and the restaurant owners’ business was getting affected. We decided to start our katti rolls venture together, as we saw a lot of potential in the venture.

YSW: How long have you been friends? 

GS: We have been friends for 11 years now, but the friendship is not based on how long you know a person. It’s about how well connected you are.

YSW: How do you maintain your friendship in the business despite the ups and downs?

GS: We all strive to work towards the same goal which is to develop the business successfully. We keep our differences in business matters limited to work and do not interfere in each other’s personal lives. We always have each other’s back.

YSW: What are some of the challenges you faced while working together? 

GS: Since we are all individuals and have different ideas, we do face challenges when we try to get on the same page. Eventually we take decisions based on what’s best for the company. If we do not agree on any matter, we vote. Since we are three partners, the decision that gets more than one vote is implemented.

What advice would you give to those who wants to start business with their friends?

GS: First and foremost, they need to trust each other and believe in each other’s visions and goal. Business and personal life need to be separate and egos need to be kept aside when running a business together. 

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