Morning Read, Feb 25: Business Partner Friends, Fashion Weeks And 8 Hour Planking

These articles stood out for me this morning. I share a few quick reads, regularly, of articles that inspire or fascinate me.

In today’s morning read: Can friends be business partners and grow successfully? What are luxury brands going to do about the upcoming fashion weeks in light of the Coronavirus and a 62 year old ex-marine breaks the Guinness World Record for the longest plank (bonus video). Enjoy the read and have a great start to your day.

Can Best Friends Be Successful Business Partners

Great founding teams are hard to come by, but business partners are not necessarily the same as startup co-founders. Founding a company is not a simple or light thing to take on. It can help to do this with a friend, or close colleague.

A strong (personal) support system and trust are a key elements to any successful business. Yet, the general belief is that friends should not do business together. In my opinion, that is not necessarily true. I do think it is important to know exactly what each of the friends brings to the table — and you need to be open with one another on what you think works well and what doesn’t.

Strong leadership teams understand their own strengths and weaknesses, and are not afraid to ask others for help.

As a company develops, it is essential that the founding team develops and grows into a new role as well. This is not at all necessarily the case. As a matter of fact, founding teams do not tend to stay together for very long — at least not until there is a need for a different kind (more mature and operational) lead.

But, founding a company together or working as business partners has it’s caveats. Trust, honesty and understanding one another can really help your company forward. A strong foundation can lay the basis for any great company, big or small.

Luxury Industry Increasingly Afraid Of Coronavirus

The Coronavirus is “everywhere” and the effects have been devastating. Travel bans between China and Europe as well as the USA and Italy (to name but a few) have changed the way Chinese tourists and business people are able to live and commute.

The big European fashion shows are coming up in the next few weeks and the larger brands are starting to feel the pressure.

What if the Chinese fashionistas are unable to attend? How long can European flagship stores go on without Chinese and Asian tourism in general?

The impact is already immense and changes will need to take place. There does not seem to be a clear plan-B, though. Most brands and retailer simply see this as a temporary event and a poor year that they can easily explain to their shareholders.

But should we not start to see more drastic measures than simply cancelling a number of big shows? Is this not the perfect time to come up with a better plan for the future? One that involves less travel and a more market-tailored marketing communication?

(Bonus) > 8 Hour Plank… Impressive

This 62 year old marine just showed us what it really means to do an ab-workout. After training for his attempt for months on end and up to 7 hours per day, the time had come to finally claim the record.

He had lost an earlier attempt in a one-on-one battle, by only a mere minute. But today, he beat the record by a quarter of an hour; to set the new Guinness World Record for holding the longest plank to 8 hours and 15 minutes #impressive.

I hope you enjoyed these reads, make sure to follow me for more regular quick news and your daily portion of tech, entrepreneurship, luxury fashion, gadgets and more, Remco Livain