Billy + Mike's Top Five Lessons Learned In Owning a Business With Your Spouse
For nearly all company founders, owning your own business takes a lot of commitment and is truly a labor of love. Yet, running a business with your spouse or partner can bring on additional challenges that could possibly interrupt your relationship mojo.
Entrepreneur and co-founder of DIAKADI, Billy Polson speaks from experience, as he co-owns DIAKADI, the largest personal training and lifestyle facility in San Francisco-Bay Area, with his husband, Mike Clausen. And they have learned a thing or two about balancing work and your relationship – especially when it’s intertwined.
1. DIVISION OF DUTIES
It is important to have a clear division of duties while focusing on the strengths of each. Know when and how to compromise. Be prepared for differences to balance out. If you are a couple that thrives on debating at every turn, you will never get anything done. Be smart with debating only extremely important tasks, letting each of you run lead on your areas of business.
2. OPEN COMMUNICATION IS KEY
Since you are together all the time, many couples fall into the problem where every minute of their lives ends up being about the business. Knowing when it is a good time to communicate can be key. Be OK with saying or hearing, ‘we cannot talk about work right now’.
3. WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Make sure you each have your own hobbies and projects outside of work to focus on in order to have time apart on your own. For Mike and I, maintaining a certain level of independence in our extremely combined lives has been a life saver.
4. BUILD A DREAM TEAM
From day one, have a goal to build a phenomenal support team of employees so that BOTH of you can take time away from work together for vacations and fully disconnect as a couple.
5. MAXIMIZE THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS
There are great financial benefits to running your own business as a couple. Be smart with your personal spending, create a retirement plan from the beginning if possible, and work with a qualified accountant to make the best use of streamlining your personal expenses with those of your business.
