Small business with the other half?
Discussion
What is it like for you running a business with the other half?
Like many very small one man 'consultancy' type businesses my partner (wife) provides my admin support: answers the phone, does the invoicing, does any admin. work, proof reads reports and handles my diary during busy periods. She does this really well and generally this arrangement works very well as it gives us flexibility and seeing each other 24/7 is something we like.
But, my God can it inject problems into the wider relationship. If I make a decision purely for business purposes (like doing favours for a client she has a downer on, offering to do a presentation for free when she thinks that client asks too much, or booking in so much work that she feels it stresses her) it ceases to be a business argument and becomes an issue about how little I value her opinion etc etc. No amount of explaining that this is simply about making more money and keeping customers happy will wash.
A friend of mine in a similar position very quickly had to ask his OH to find another job and at times I sometimes think that would be easier.
So how do others handle the work/personal relationship? If it caused problems, did you have to bail out of working together or was there a way around it?
I am thinking of giving her control of all the things she get worked up about (bookings, work flow, invoicing, my diary). But I fear it will cost us money as I know she will tell clients we are too busy just to keep her own stress levels down (she can be quite anxious). In 9 years I have never turned down work and we have always coped. I know we will miss out on clients who don't do as she wants (I have to keep reminding her that they are the ones with the money and generally the rule is we do what we can to help them even if we have to bite our tongue and smile politely). She sees it as something more personal that once they have done something wrong (like not hitting a delivery date or being very slow to pay), she won't do them any favours or expedite their work.
Like many very small one man 'consultancy' type businesses my partner (wife) provides my admin support: answers the phone, does the invoicing, does any admin. work, proof reads reports and handles my diary during busy periods. She does this really well and generally this arrangement works very well as it gives us flexibility and seeing each other 24/7 is something we like.
But, my God can it inject problems into the wider relationship. If I make a decision purely for business purposes (like doing favours for a client she has a downer on, offering to do a presentation for free when she thinks that client asks too much, or booking in so much work that she feels it stresses her) it ceases to be a business argument and becomes an issue about how little I value her opinion etc etc. No amount of explaining that this is simply about making more money and keeping customers happy will wash.
A friend of mine in a similar position very quickly had to ask his OH to find another job and at times I sometimes think that would be easier.
So how do others handle the work/personal relationship? If it caused problems, did you have to bail out of working together or was there a way around it?
I am thinking of giving her control of all the things she get worked up about (bookings, work flow, invoicing, my diary). But I fear it will cost us money as I know she will tell clients we are too busy just to keep her own stress levels down (she can be quite anxious). In 9 years I have never turned down work and we have always coped. I know we will miss out on clients who don't do as she wants (I have to keep reminding her that they are the ones with the money and generally the rule is we do what we can to help them even if we have to bite our tongue and smile politely). She sees it as something more personal that once they have done something wrong (like not hitting a delivery date or being very slow to pay), she won't do them any favours or expedite their work.
Stevenj214 said:
My first instinct was to say get someone else and maintain the levels of business you currently have, however you are in the fortunate position of being able to regulate both of your enjoyment of work so would the lower level of business still support your lifestyle?
It would, but it grates a little to turn business away. Big picture is obviously that the relationship is far more important than the business and I am hoping that by defining roles more clearly and giving her responsibilty for the decisions which make other life stressful. I then just need to bite my tongue when she is losing us money, as I know she will.I HATE having my work interfered with the relationship and vice versa. I'm almost ready to start up and I already have her saying things that would really cock up business. So I politely told her that she wouldn't be involved as she seems fairly happy with where she is now. To me, it's not worth risking it if business becomes hard. As if it isn't already hard with things as they are.
Very few make it work - for some reason women take business personally where men dont so much
Your spot on where if you do a favour / discount for a punter your missus dislikes she thinks your doing it to spite her - go figure !?
I HAD to have my Mrs involved but as soon as i could she was out and life and staff are better for it (she doesnt read pistonheads LOL)
Your spot on where if you do a favour / discount for a punter your missus dislikes she thinks your doing it to spite her - go figure !?
I HAD to have my Mrs involved but as soon as i could she was out and life and staff are better for it (she doesnt read pistonheads LOL)
I have worked with my wife/partner for over 40 years, what is it like? The best way I can describe it is, it is a bit like having a home on the side of a very steep sea side cliff, most days you expect the home to slide into the sea, but it never does, and one’s marriage, relationship and business always appear to be breaking up/down, but in my case survived.
In our business, my wife took control of dealing with clients, whilst I controlled the accounts, ordering, invoicing and paying suppliers etc. etc.
As for taking on more business, really depends what the OP and his partner are looking for, me/us always kept to a customer level that enabled us to give reasonable customer service, without having to employ extra staff.
In our business, my wife took control of dealing with clients, whilst I controlled the accounts, ordering, invoicing and paying suppliers etc. etc.
As for taking on more business, really depends what the OP and his partner are looking for, me/us always kept to a customer level that enabled us to give reasonable customer service, without having to employ extra staff.
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