ryancantfly

Hi all, Firstly, excuse the blunt thread subject, I felt it best in order to grab some attention . I run an events business in the UK, hosting club events around the country, with aspirations of expanding to more and more locations, with more club brands, and also branching out into other sectors using the power of the brand we have behind us. Our company has three directors, myself and two of my longest and best friends, I've known them both for 12-15 years (I'm 30). One of these friends, is very similar to myself, he's driven, ambitious and has 'street smart' intelligence. My other friend comes from a background of working as a general sales person in shops, as someone who's just been part of a team up until now, and things just aren't matching up (as you may expect). Friend / director #2 is someone who has invested a lot of time and some money into the business, which we all have done over the last 3 years since establishing it, but instead of the top level strategic work that myself and the first friend have put in, it's all very much 'worker' tasks. He's driven a lot of people around, made sure specific events are running OK, sat doing lighting when necessary, all very much tasks that could be allocated to any other person. By talking to him about what we'd love to see from him, and giving him a directorship when we became a registered company, we hoped we could spur him on to buck up his ideas and strive to be more than he has been, to look at the bigger picture and become invaluable to the business, but nothing has worked. Naturally, when askng him if he actually feels like he wants to be a director and a top part of the business, his answer is a firm yes, and there's some expectation there from his side that he deserves to be so, after the work he's put in so far. This friend is also a bit of a loser (hence the subject) in life, he doesn't put effort into his appearance unless told he has to, he is lazy with women and any new relationships other than his existing close friends and his family, he worked for the same boring retail company for 10 years and only left it because we kept spurring him on, he doesn't even wash his car unless we moan at him for how dirty it is, you probably get the picture. Our situation therefore stands, that we've reached a point where we're fed up with his work ethic (as a director), but we would prefer to find a way to inspire him to be the person he claims he wants to be, instead of cutting him out. There's also then the issue of friendship, I've known this guy for 15 years or so, I went to university with him, I share an apartment with him. If we were to cut him out, that friendship would surely end up damaged, with bitterness when he feels left out from something he's invested previous time into. So where do we go? For the sake of success, is it best to cut the tie and move forward and just hope that a friendship can remain, or is there a strategy we should try before that? Myself and friend #1 have been ruthless in the past, we're not afraid to do it if that's the only real option, but this time, I want to find out if there is an option two first. Thanks to anyone who offers any help. Ryan