It might seem odd that an insurance salesman, a chiropractor and a chemist — all men — would own a store that sells scented lotions and soaps.

But Garrett Goo, Howard Tang and Todd Taba are at home in their new store, Chemistry Bath and Body, which opened four months ago on King Street.

Their years-long friendship — they met at 24 Hour Fitness — has a lot to do with that.

"We can tell each other anything," said Goo, 40, of Nu'uanu. "We can toss ideas around, and if we don't agree we come up with a compromise ... And we harass each other. That's fun."

Friends go into business together all the time. They open restaurants or start clothing lines, partner in advertising, write books together or start an online-based operation.

But while there are obvious benefits — working with someone you like and trust — the downsides can hurt more than just the business.

"Sometimes the best way to lose a good friend is to go into business with a friend," said Marty Plotnick, president of Creative Resources Inc., a marketing research firm. "The reason being you can't end the business day. The friendship always extends beyond the normal eight-hour day."

Plotnick acknowledges the upside to partnering with a friend, too, advantages that can help businesses be successful.

"There are benefits, definitely," he said. "You have a better understanding of the other person. You know which buttons to push or not to push. You know the sensitivities. You know the likes and dislikes. You know the biases and preferences. And conversely, your friend knows yours."

FRIENDS FIRST

Chemistry owners Goo, Taba and Tang say their friendship will last longer than any business.

This is the second business concept they've come up with together, and the first they actually put money on.

"We can work through anything," said Taba, 41. "So far it's been positive."

The workout buddies got the idea of a store where people could customize their own scented body lotions three years ago. They were tired of lugging back Bath & Body Works products whenever they went to the Mainland.

"We'd have 70-pound suitcases coming home," Taba said.

They inquired about opening one of those stores here but were turned down. So they came up with their own concept.

"We wanted to give our customers the choice to be able to make their own products," Goo said.

So far the concept is working.

The store has hosted a dozen private scenting parties and sold out on some products during its first Christmas season.

Though all three still hold full-time day jobs, they work at the store on weeknights and weekends. (Not being married or having kids helps.)

And, surprisingly, they dig it.

"This is relaxing for me," said Tang, 41, whose favorite scent is a mix of blush peony and a combination scent they call cally. "I really enjoy coming here."

Goo met Taba at the 24 Hour Fitness on Kapi'olani Boulevard in 1995. Working out nearly every day, the two kept running into each other. They started grabbing Korean takeout after their workouts. A few years later, Goo met Tang at the downtown gym. The three became quick friends.

What they all had in common — aside from an affinity for working out five days a week — was entrepreneurial drive.

"Basically, we want to retire earlier," Tang said, laughing.

They pulled together their strengths. Taba has a background in chemistry and handles the technical side of the business. Tang, a native of Vietnam, has business connections in Asia. And Goo takes care of the marketing and, of course, insurance.

"We're alike enough to work together well, but we're different enough to strengthen each other," Taba said. "We don't bang heads too much."

"I can be a real grouch sometimes, it's true," added Goo. "But once we lock up, we're still friends."

IN THE SPIRIT

Cynthia Derosier and Jody Kono Kjeldsen first worked together three years ago on a marketing project for the Hawai'i Convention Center.

Kjeldsen was the center's marketing manager; Derosier was an associate creative director for Ogilvy & Mather.

During that year on the project, the two became friends. They both surf, and began meeting for early morning sessions in Waikiki.

"We'd surf together, then go straight to the coffee shop and have our meetings," said Derosier, 40, now a freelance art director in Kailua. "It's amazing how much we'd get done."

They continued surfing at least three times a week, even after the project was done.

"It's just the best way to start your day," Derosier said. "People who surf, they know the object is to have fun. You work hard, but you work hard to have fun."

Co-workers on the marketing project suggested Derosier and Kjeldsen go into business together. The pair started to seriously think about it.

"We realized we had a good partnership, different strengths and weaknesses," said Kjeldsen, 36, now executive director of the Poipu Beach Resort Association on Kaua'i, where she's from. "We're yin and yang."

They started thinking of business ideas — products to sell, retail stores to open. Nothing sparked an interest.

Then on a snowboarding trip to Colorado last February — their second trip together — Derosier woke up with an idea. A book that expressed exactly what they love about surfing.

"I couldn't sleep," Derosier said. "I got up and wrote the bulk of the book, the meat of it. And then I just had goosebumps."

Using their own cash and money from an angel investor, they created Free Time Productions LLC and began the arduous process of self-publishing the book, "The Surfer Spirit," which hit bookstores two months ago.

Derosier handles creative tasks, such as designing the book and the Web site; Kjeldsen takes care of the business and marketing sides. When they need to trust the other to make decisions, they do.

"Both of us have a lot of experience in our fields, and our work styles are very complementary," Derosier said. "I'm always going 50 miles an hour and thinking 90 steps ahead. She's much calmer about everything."

Kjeldsen said the benefits go beyond holding business meetings in the surf.

"There's a connection when you work with a friend that you don't get with someone who's just your business partner," Kjeldsen said. "There's a different degree of trust and communication. ... We always joke that it's the surf, but really (the business) has brought us closer as friends and as women."

Both have kept their day jobs but treat their business endeavor as a second career. Their biggest challenge so far has been working together while living on separate islands, after Kjeldsen moved to Kaua'i in September.

But they enjoy being business partners as much as being friends. "One of the guarantees is that we're going to have fun, we're going to have a good time, because we're friends," Derosier said. "We started out being friends because we had so much in common, and now it's come full circle. All the lines are blurred."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.