Collaborate: Start a business venture with a friend

The thought of a business plan sounds overwhelming and time-consuming. You have important skills but not all the skills needed and pursuing further education will take too long. Networking requires engaging with a stranger.

Too often we have dinner with a friend and agree that we want to enrich our lives but we just don't know how or we don't have the time.

Well, it's time to bring in your friend to:

• pin down each of your existing skills ... review your resumes side by side

• decide on a small or large business venture that requires those skills

• identify people you already know in that industry

• agree on initial small budget to launch i.e. register business, email, website, etc.

• setup a website to promote that business

• split up the work

• decide how to allocate the net income and modify as necessary

• if the business fails then try the steps above with a different venture until you succeed

You can take care of tasks while the two of you have dinner weekly or monthly and even if you fail that does not mean you wasted time. It means that you filtered out things that don't work and you redesigned your goals. That's productivity. Over several months or years you will have net income, a blueprint of failures and successes, and a professional relationship with your friend. Then you can decide to sign up for a training or workshop to expand your skills and try the next venture.

If you don't try all you have is dreams on the table.