So, you have an idea for a business and think it would be great to join forces with your partner. After all, you have a happy home life, you get along great, and you’d like to spend more time together, so wouldn’t it stand to reason that you’d make good business partners?
Ummm, sometimes yes, and sometimes no.
If you and your partner are running a business together, and you’re having trouble dealing with conflict, you’re not alone. While there are many copreneurs, or couplepreneurs as they’re also called, who easily translate a happy marriage into a happy business relationship, others have a bumpier ride as they learn to navigate their new roles. Now, add employees to the mix.
If you’re in business with your spouse, accept the fact that, just like marriage, copreneurship isn’t always a 50/50 proposition. There will be periods when one of you will do considerably more work than the other for the good of the business. Often, it depends on whose skills are needed for the immediate task at hand. Accept it and focus on your long-term goal for success.
Okay- for those of you who will jump on me to say “of course marriage is a 50/50 proposition,” I have to argue that, on a day to day basis, it’s really not. Over the course of your relationship, 100/100 is the goal, in that each of you should be putting 100% effort into home and business. But, for this article, I’m focusing on workload.
