{"id":60461,"date":"2025-04-29T14:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T14:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60461\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T14:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T14:46:08","slug":"from-strangers-to-co-founders-these-entrepreneurs-took-a-leap-of-faith-to-launch-their-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/60461\/","title":{"rendered":"From strangers to co-founders: These entrepreneurs took a leap of faith to launch their business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Florence Gaven Rossavik, left, and Jessie Frampton launched their business, Fuzz Wax Bar, just eight months after they met in a thrift shop.Rachel Reid\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Fuzz Wax Bar started because of a \u201cgranny knit\u201d sweater, says co-founder Jessie Frampton.<\/p>\n

In 2012, Ms. Frampton was thrift shopping at Value Village in Toronto when she came across the sweater. Uncertain whether to buy it, she tapped the shoulder of a stranger to ask their opinion. That stranger was Florence Gaven Rossavik, a film industry professional who had moved to Toronto from France, and who would soon become Frampton\u2019s co-founder. <\/p>\n

Ms. Gaven Rossavik encouraged Ms. Frampton to buy the sweater. The two women exchanged phone numbers, later meeting for a coffee. As their friendship grew, Ms. Gaven Rossavik asked Ms. Frampton if she had recommendations for a quality waxing salon. The two quickly realized there was a gap in the market, and within three to four months, they were working on a business plan to launch Fuzz Wax Bar, a membership-based skin care and hair removal company.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur full-time job became meeting every single morning from nine to five, doing market research,\u201d Ms. Frampton says. <\/p>\n

Their hard work paid off: just eight months after meeting, the pair had opened their first location. Since opening its first location on Toronto\u2019s Queen West neighbourhood in 2012, Fuzz Wax Bar has expanded to 19 locations across Canada, with 10,000 members and a fast-growing franchise model. <\/p>\n

Ms. Frampton says that their two roles were clear from the start: where she was interested in branding, culture and public relations, Ms. Gaven Rossavik was interested in administration, finance and operations. \u201cWe naturally fell into our worlds,\u201d Ms. Frampton says. \u201cThere\u2019s a dash of \u2018meant to be\u2019 in our story, which I think is really fun.\u201d <\/p>\n

Honest conversations, even when it\u2019s hard<\/b><\/p>\n

Studies show that entrepreneurs benefit from having business partners; for example, a Harvard Business Review report indicates that 94 per cent of tech executives view innovation partnerships as key<\/a>. But business partnerships can fail; one survey from the U.K.<\/a> found that 43 per cent of entrepreneurs had to buy out their partners because of rifts and power struggles.<\/p>\n

There can be benefits to partnering with someone who isn\u2019t a close friend or family member. For example, there isn\u2019t the emotional baggage that can come with entrenched relationships. Choosing a partner based on their skills and their passion for the business might be a better move than choosing someone because you grew up together. <\/p>\n

But research also shows that entrepreneurs who have a prior working or personal relationship are more likely to have a successful business partnership<\/a>, says Shari Hughson, adjunct lecturer and entrepreneur adviser at Queen\u2019s University Smith School of Business. <\/p>\n

\u201cCo-founders are like a marriage,\u201d Ms. Hughson says. When you get into business with someone who is new in your life, \u201cit\u2019s like you\u2019ve married someone who you\u2019ve only known for less than six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a co-founding team to succeed, it must be clear how much time each person can dedicate to the venture, Ms. Hughson says, which often boils down to each founder\u2019s personal cash runway. However, \u201cpeople aren\u2019t usually very honest about money when [they] don\u2019t know each other,\u201d which can cause problems down the line. <\/p>\n

Another important conversation is around sacrifice, Ms. Hughson says. Are all co-founders willing to sacrifice not only their time and money, but possibly also their relationships and hobbies? Partners need to be able to have honest conversations about these sorts of issues, \u201ceven though it\u2019s going to be real hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

To overcome these challenges, Ms. Hughson recommends hiring a facilitator to guide early discussions and then to sign an agreement. She adds that her \u201cnumber one recommendation\u201d for any co-founding team is that no matter how long they have known one another, nobody gets shares in the first year \u2013 and beyond a year, shares are only given if certain individual goals and milestones are met. <\/p>\n

That way, \u201cif someone doesn\u2019t live up to their obligations, you aren\u2019t trying to buy [them out],\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Personalities that fit<\/b><\/p>\n

Unlike the serendipitous meeting that sparked Ms. Frampton and Ms. Gaven Rossavik\u2019s partnership, Jaelin Lee met her co-founder Linda Nedell through a co-founder matching platform in July 2024. <\/p>\n

Ms. Lee is the CTO and technical co-founder of SAYge Link, a subscription-based platform connecting women who have gone through similar life experiences. Once matched, the women, alongside personalized coaches, can support each other through everything from mental health to career challenges. <\/p>\n

After two months of attending an accelerator together, Ms. Lee and Ms. Nedell decided to partner as co-founders for SAYge, which Ms. Nedell had been working on for the past three years. Approximately two months after their decision, the contracts were signed. <\/p>\n

Before Ms. Lee came on board, Ms. Nedell, who is the company\u2019s CEO, had tried to collaborate with a handful of different co-founders, but \u201csomehow it didn\u2019t work out,\u201d Ms. Lee says. Their partnership is going well, despite the fact that Ms. Lee lives in Ottawa while Ms. Nedell lives in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Ms. Hughson says that a key aspect of a successful business partnership is to ensure that co-founders\u2019 values are aligned, but that their personalities are different. This ensures that everyone brings something different to the table. <\/p>\n

Personality is a factor in Ms. Lee and Ms. Nedell\u2019s partnership. For example, Ms. Lee says that Ms. Nedell is the \u201csofter\u201d of the two, describing her as a \u201cgreat, lovable person\u201d who can leverage her wide network to bring users to the platform. \u201cI\u2019m more like, \u2018I need structure, I need a goal\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019m pushing to get things done, putting things into the market,\u201d Ms. Lee says. <\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s like a sisterhood\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Ms. Frampton and Ms. Gaven Rossavik hadn\u2019t been searching for a co-founder when they first met \u2013 in fact, neither had worked with a business partner before, so \u201cwe didn\u2019t really know what it meant to not trust the other one,\u201d Ms. Gaven Rossavik says. \u201cI think that\u2019s pretty special, and I don\u2019t think that happens in a lot of partnerships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Frampton says that their shared values have been their \u201cNorth star\u201d \u2013 \u201cand not just [our] values for today and tomorrow,\u201d she says. \u201cThis company is growing. If you want that growth, your values have to [align] for five years, 10 years.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 13 years since the two co-founders first met, and while their relationship began as strangers, it\u2019s developed into a deep bond. \u201cIt\u2019s like sisterhood at this point,\u201d Ms. Frampton says. \u201cWe argue like sisters. It\u2019s just this closeness that has always come very naturally to us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Interested in more perspectives about women in the workplace? Find all stories on The Globe Women\u2019s Collective hub here<\/a>, and subscribe to the new Women and Work newsletter here<\/a>. Have feedback? E-mail us at GWC@globeandmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Florence Gaven Rossavik, left, and Jessie Frampton launched their business, Fuzz Wax Bar,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3094],"tags":[23270,24834,9884,51,3858,31337,3993,3187,3134,3395,24789,24832,18191,2978,16,15,24835,24300],"class_list":{"0":"post-60461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-adveditorial","9":"tag-adveditorialgwc","10":"tag-appwebview","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-careers","13":"tag-co-founders","14":"tag-collaboration","15":"tag-entrepreneurs","16":"tag-entrepreneurship","17":"tag-founders","18":"tag-noastack","19":"tag-ordid2896011761ce","20":"tag-partnership","21":"tag-small-business","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom","24":"tag-women-and-work","25":"tag-yespop"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114421798280503634","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}