We need the third partner because HE has the formal mechanical/technical skillset, the certifications and the network that will ensure a shot at success. Myself, I have more years of practical experience running a business than you can shake a stick at; everything from accounting to customer service. My husband is highly skilled in sales and service, knows the mechanical part (although he's not certified - he's just smart and knows his own stuff) and has worked in corporate environments. I have both attended and exhibited at trade shows.....basically, it boils down to the three of us pooling our skills and working together to make one helluva team. (There is also the aspect of our friend being a really great guy who has had an indecently hard life, and if things work out even half as well as we hope, it will not only improve our lives but his as well. We care deeply for him; he's a special dude.)

This isn't something we dreamed up last week. We've been talking it over, smoothing out our ideas and brainstorming for over a year. Most that time was waiting for our friend to complete his formal education. He has recently graduated and has several jobs lined up in the industry to get his foot in the door. None of us intend to quit our dayjobs unless and until we have so much work that we simply cannot keep up and demand insists we turn full attention to our business. Even then, my husband my keep his job on a part-time basis to keep insurance coverage for our family.

Our next steps involve our friend getting a position, making contacts and learning the practical side of running a similar business. We know businesses can be very industry-specific; a janitorial service will be run quite differently than, say, a Mom & Pop convenience store. We have baby steps and short-term, mid-term and long-term goals in place already. We have no intention of jumping headlong into anything. That's a sure recipe for failure.

We know we will have to write a business plan; we know we will have to set down all aspects of the business on paper; we know we will need funding; we know it will be a risk and a struggle. We know there will be conflicts amongst us from time to time, too. My hope is that we are all like-minded enough that we will work together as well as we suspect we will. The good news is that my husband and I have already worked together before and it went wonderfully, so we do have SOME experience with that.

The naked truth of the matter is this: we have reached the point that we'd rather try and risk complete failure than not try at all. I think I shall rapidly go insane if I'm ever forced to sit in a gray little cube again, with an inept and ineffectual boss droning in my ear about TPS reports.