Starting a business with your spouse is a great opportunity to bond with the person you love and create a legacy your children can continue in the future. With that in mind, there are some notable struggles associated with owning a business as a couple. Before you start a new adventure with your husband or wife, you need to be prepared for what may come along. Here are some tips and suggestions to help you start your business successfully.
Running a business with your spouse is only fun if you both like what you’re doing. If only one of you enjoys the work though, there will be tension from the start. Of course, each spouse may take on a completely different role in the business (as explained below), but you both need to be on the same page about the type of work you want to do. Try to come up with a mutual plan that both of you can see yourselves working in. That way you will have the best possible chance at success.
Every successful couple that owns a business has some sort of role for each spouse to fill. For instance, in a window cleaning company, the husband may do the bulk of the “labor” while the wife focuses on marketing, accounting, hiring, etc. If both of you want to work in the field, you may split the “office duties” between each other based on your strengths and weaknesses. Figure out what your roles are going to be in your business so both of you understand what your responsibilities are.
Every business owner (couple or individual) should have a plan for growing and investing in their business. This will give you a set of goals to follow as you reach various milestones in business ownership. Come up with a short term and long term business plan to give you a full perspective of what you need to do with the business. The short term goal may be to launch a marketing campaign or find a new office, but the long term goal may be to make a certain amount of money by the end of five years. Think about all of this so you can execute your plans effectively as a couple.