June 2005
Editor’s Note: Dana and Jim Robinson have been working together for over 20 years. I have asked them to respond to this question based on their experience. I welcome all of you to add comments to Dana’s response. Please send me your thoughts and ideas. We will publish them in an upcoming column. ebb
Question
You mention in your books that it is important to remember that you are establishing a business and you need to make sure the “business side” does not suffer. Knowing this and not having strong business development skills, my husband, Alan and I are planning to start the business together. I will be Senior Partner (probably 70% ownership) and he will be a partner (30%). Although he doesn’t have experience in OD/LD/Training, he is very skilled at sales, marketing, operations, business development and finance. He has much more of an entrepreneurial spirit. The skills we both have complement each other and we don’t see much, if any, overlap. This said, the obvious question—what are the risks and benefits of establishing a business with a spouse?
Answer
My husband and I have shared a business for 21 years; we know first-hand the joy that can come from working with your spouse. The primary benefit of working with your spouse is that your lives are totally integrated. You can fully appreciate the joys and successes, as well as the challenges and disappointments; you can bounce ideas off of each other with a resulting solution that is better than either of you would have had working independently. And you are growing something together—your business.
The primary risk of working with your spouse is that…your lives are totally integrated! In other words, the benefit and risk are the same. From a risk perspective there is danger when there are no boundaries between your business and personal lives. The challenge of “balancing your lives” is made even more difficult when you work with your spouse. Should problems occur there are two important elements in your life that can be threatened – the marriage and the business.
In responding to this question, I prefer to think of what we have found to work so the benefits, and not the risks, of working together are realized.
- Roles. Clarify what role you seek in the business. Do you want to be the consultant who delivers on client assignments? Or would you rather be the person who sells the work? Do you want to be the person who delivers services to the clients or would you prefer to be working in the office on important business functions such as finance, computer systems and marketing? And what roles does your spouse seek to fill? It is vital that each person clarify what they wish to do and that these roles be mutually agreed upon.
- Shared Business Mission and Values. Why do you wish to go into business at all, much less together? What is the mission for the business and the values used to guide the business? It is vital these are articulated and agreed upon between you. Once you have agreed upon the mission and values that will guide you, it is probable that decisions made day-to-day will be supported by each of you.
- Establish Boundaries. Agree upon how you will balance your work and personal lives together. Once you walk out of the office is talking about the business forbidden (a goal we have not found possible to support!). What if you have a disagreement at the office – how will that be managed once you are at home? How will you plan for your vacation times together? We have found that planning ahead in this area is most important. Otherwise each person is booking time with clients, leaving no days or weeks when both are free to share time together away from the office.
With careful thought and planning, working with a spouse can be one of life’s greatest experiences. I wish you much success in your joint venture!
Dana Robinson
President
Partners in Change
www.partners-in-change.com
Co-author, with her husband, of several books including Performance Consulting and Strategic Business Partner: Aligning People Strategies with Business Goals.
