[peter_l_downs]

    > I’ve done plenty of business with friends. In fact, the 
    > majority of my business has been with friends or 
    > acquaintances. Some of those friends even stopped using 
    > me when I raised rates over the years and they’re still 
    > my friends. I’m having drinks with one of them tonight, 
    > in fact.

I'm happy that doing business with your friends worked out in this case, but in general I'd tend to stay away from it. Nothing can ruin a great friendship like money.

[mikitamikado]

It is hard to build sales and marketing channels when you're just starting up. That is why majority of us start with closest circles - friends, family, friends of friends and friends of family... In many cases doing business with friends is inevitably.