Bangalore: Frenemies are like a twin blade sword that you neither can get rid of nor can behold it for long. A few hiccups with your business partner on negotiating or planning; will you term them as your ‘frenemies’? Such incidents do not imply that they are the one. It is quite difficult for someone to really figure out who that frenemy is. They are not someone who can be easily judged. You never know where the frenemy is lurking.

“It is difficult to identify someone who is a good friend of yours but who can also be an enemy. Having said that, I am sure everyone would have a friend who is pretty close to you in terms of communicating regularly, but again can be someone you cannot really trust completely,” says Raja Sampath, Founder and Operations Head, TreeShore.

As the founder of a startup, you meet with partners-folks from whom you want data, who might help you get your first revenue deal and many more. You know that you need to work with them and share a bunch of your plans, but sometimes it may happen that they turn out to be frenemies who may move into your space. Since you will be meeting these people on regular intervals, it is better you communicate things pretty clearly and have a stronger communication.

Parameshwar Babu, CEO, Param Projects For Perfection, and Founder, Param Hotels, says, “As a serial entrepreneur for the last 15 years, I have worked with various associates and partners for several ventures. To become a seasoned entrepreneur, frenemies are necessary evils that one must deal with during early stage of your entrepreneurial life.” During his first 10 years of entrepreneurial life, he found that it was not only difficult to get rid of them but it was also very hard to suppress the negative impact.

“To me, frenemies were business associates who did play a useful role in supporting my growth at early stage but later on started behaving like parasites. Sometimes, the only choice was to shutdown the business unit or let it die on its own. I simply moved on with new ventures and nurtured a new team that provided decent growth,” adds Babu.

No doubt seeking out partners leaves you exposed, but usually there are multiple potential partners in each space. You need to evaluate and priorities your efforts with the quality of partners that you need and you will be able to minimize the business risk. On seeing your new growth, some of the past frenemies will try to contact again and try to re-associate with you. “I will define a clear boundary if they want to re-associate with me again even if they were not used to working with me that way before,” adds Babu.