Making friends that are on the same path as yourself is so important in life. When you hear sayings like - birds of a feather flock together. There's a reason that saying has remained relevant over the years. If you walk with people that are not going your way, there will always be problems.
The first thing is that you'll hardly think alike. When you were a child, you moved with friends in your school. Schooling joined you all together. As a adult, and a business person - if you don't move with people that are in your field, it will become harder for you to really understand each other. Hence, the friendship may not be strong.
People that are in a different business from you, will tend to waste your time. The reason is that, you both don't function the same way. When they're free, you're probably busy. That means that, if you want to hangout with them, you'll probably have to leave your work or business during that time.
A powerful merit of making friends in your line of business is that you'll help each other grow. You'll be getting latest information from friends in the same business as you. It tends to be a mutually benefitting relationship. These are the kinds of friendships that help businessmen move forward and better.
You may have some friends in other lines of business, but you should always make sure that, when you meet - it should be on your own free time. Therefore, you can have them as contacts when you need an information or something outside your business. Hence, they can prove useful in many such cases. Just don't get too close - that you start wasting your work hours with them.
