Friendship Part of Partners’ Bottom Line

Lydia Lucciola knew it was fate 13 years ago when she met another recently transplanted East Coaster who shared not only her interest in fashion and interior design, but also her uncommon first name. She and Lydia Gach became close friends and started a business together two years ago. They’ve preserved their personal relationship through the stresses of a start-up by maintaining a sense of humor, sharing a strong commitment to the firm and keeping a deck of cards handy. Lydia Lucciola was interviewed by freelance writer Karen E. Klein.

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Lydia and I had a mutual friend who introduced us, and we immediately connected because we had the same name and we both were designers. We came up with these wrought-iron legs that could be used by do-it-yourselfers to update old tables and chairs or spruce up garage sale finds at very little cost.

There was nothing on the market like our product, which has become an entire line of wrought iron and wooden legs and wrought-iron accessories, so we priced the feasibility of mass-producing them, incorporated and got picked up by Home Depot, where they’re sold exclusively.

It’s tough to start a business, and there are a lot of serious decisions that have to be made with a lot of money on the line. What has preserved our friendship and made us successful is mainly that we agreed ahead of time on many of the crucial issues. We talked out some guidelines about our commitment to the company, the quality of our product, the rate of growth, how we would be equals in terms of personal time and funds invested, keeping the vision of the do-it-yourself market in the foreground and staying focused. Then we put the agreement in writing.

We also decided ahead of time that when we didn’t agree, we would assign our CPA to be our mediator. When there is something we can’t decide, like a pricing issue, he makes the final decision, and we trust that he will always put the financial health of the company first.

We’re both pretty stubborn. Sometimes when there are minor conflicts, we settle them with a deck of cards: High card wins. When we formed the corporation, we both wanted to be president. That was one choice our CPA wouldn’t make. We really got goose bumps when we pulled out the deck and both drew the same card! On the second pick, I won. So I’m listed as president and Lyd is vice president, but really we’re completely equal partners.

Keeping humor in the relationship and the business is so important. We try not to be stringent or rigid about things. We look for the same sense of humor mixed with responsibility in our vendors and support team.

We laugh a lot and keep things light even when we find ourselves in some bizarre situations, like the time we were getting late on an order and we had to rent a 40-foot, manual transmission U-Haul and play delivery service to get our products to the customer on time.

I’ve found it’s easier to reach a resolution when you respect each other’s strengths and understand your own weaknesses. I handle the advertising, signage, graphics, sales and marketing, for example. Lydia does the financial and accounting matters and handles the business end because she’s good at that.

So if we’re debating something and I know it’s in Lydia’s area of strength, I’ll accede to her point of view and she’ll do the same for me. Probably what has really motivated us to get along is that we feel strongly that we don’t want to jeopardize our friendship. That makes us both want to compromise on the little things--like where to go for lunch.

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If your business can provide a lesson to other entrepreneurs, contact Karen E. Klein at the Los Angeles Times, 1333 S. Mayflower Ave., Suite 100, Monrovia, CA 91016, or send e-mail to Kklein6349@aol.com. Include your name, address and telephone number.

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At a Glance

Company: Maidens of Iron, Inc.

Owners: Lydia Gach and Lydia Lucciola

Nature of business: Designs and distributes furniture components and accessories

Location: 825 Angelus Place, Venice 90291

E-mail address: maidens602@aol.com

Founded: 1997

Employees: 0

Annual revenue: $280,000