How to run a business with your spouse

For better or worse, your wedding vows can certainly be tested when you choose to run a franchise with your life-long partner. That’s not to say that successful franchises can’t be owned and operated by spouses, but it definitely takes patience and understanding.

Why run a business with your spouse?

Starting a franchise with a loved one raises some challenges, but the advantages of working with your husband or wife can be huge. These include being able to control your work schedules around family commitments, doing something you love together and having a business partner who you trust more than anyone else. These are just a few of the amazing benefits that come with working with your spouse.

Why choose a franchise over independent start up?

• Less financial stress

Buying a franchise is a nerve-racking life decision and should involve plenty of research. But the benefit of taking this route instead of the independent start-up route is that all of the start-up costs are clearly outlined in the franchise agreement. You can see how much you are going to spend and on what. This should take some of the stress out of the situation, as you can be confident that you have sufficient funds.

• Established brand

As well as there being clarity regarding investments, the franchise has a proven business model with tried and tested operational processes. The fact that the franchise has most likely already been successful in a number of other locations proves that it is offering a product/service that is in demand and is conducting the business in an efficient way.

The fact that you will be following a system laid out by the franchisor should mean that fewer disagreements arise between you and your spouse. Let’s say you instead decided to launch your own beauty business from scratch. There are so many big decisions that need to be made and potentially disagreed on, which could cause tension in both the business relationship and the marriage. However, with a franchise, you don’t have as much of a say about how the franchise is run; it is down to the franchisor. So instead of worrying about who is going to get the last word about how the business is run, you can focus on enjoying the benefits of running a less stressful business operation together.

You can choose which parts of the business each of you will focus on in accordance with your strengths and weaknesses. You might designate one of you to focus on managing staff and the accounts, whilst the other might be in charge of marketing and sales.

To ensure success, both professionally and personally, here are six tips on setting up a franchise with your spouse…without it ending in divorce:

>> Read more:

• Starting a Franchise: Top 5 Things You Must Do
• Top 10 Mistakes To Avoid When Starting A Franchise
• Top 10 Signs That You’re Ready to Start Your Own Franchise
• A Beginner’s Guide to Franchising
• Conquer your fears and start a franchise
• Five excuses for not starting a franchise

How to Run a Business with Your Spouse

1. Establish clear roles and responsibilities

Many married couples enjoy a fluid personal life when it comes to assigning roles. Whoever is in first from work starts to prepare dinner; whoever is up first in the morning takes the bins out. This approach is fine for a non-work related environment, but could spell disaster for your business life.

Right at the start of your franchising journey, you and your spouse should review your strengths and weaknesses. When these are understood, roles and responsibilities should be assigned based on them. Not only will this division of labour make things much simpler for you, but it also allows team members to know who to turn to for which areas of the business.

You should then hold yourself and each other accountable for the roles you play within the franchise.

2. Set boundaries between work and home life

When you make a franchise investment, it’s very easy to allow it to take over all aspects of your life. It becomes all-encompassing and you want to talk about it 24/7. Although you may fall into this trap in the early days, this level of intrusion into your personal life is not sustainable.

Be strict and set time aside for ‘work talk’ and ‘family time’. Successful franchises aren’t just run nine to five, so it’s naïve to think that work conversations never take place at home, but boundaries should be set.

So that a work/life balance can be achieved, put aside a couple of hours a week to discuss the more strategic elements of the business. These conversations can be difficult to have during the day whilst running a busy franchise, so it makes sense to hold more important meetings at home.

By having a set time per week, it’s less likely that the work talk will interrupt the kids’ bedtime or a family meal. Wait until the children are in bed and dedicate a couple of hours per week to your franchise investment without compromising family time.

3. Remember: you’re married as well as business partners

Setting up a franchise with your spouse can often mean that you feel more married to the business than each other. Because you spend so much time together during the day, it’s easy to get home and neglect the basics.

Asking how your partner’s day has been may sound simple, but it can go a long way. Don’t assume just because you know what your spouse has been doing during the day that you understand how they feel about it. Having a sounding board that you trust should be one of the benefits of going into business with a loved one, so take advantage of it.

Make sure that the lines of communication stay open and know when it’s time to cut back on business and focus more on your relationship. Allow plenty of time for the fun stuff to recharge your batteries and become life partners again, rather than just business partners.

4. Trust your spouse

Establishing clear roles and setting boundaries should help reduce any potential conflict. But on top of this, try to trust your spouse’s decisions. Let the trust you have already established in your marriage be applied to your business partnership. Otherwise, you risk being part of the 60 percent that fails because of not trusting each other and communicating properly.

5. Don’t forget you

Working and living together can feel claustrophobic at times. Even those with the strongest of relationships can sometimes struggle with the lack of personal space that can come with a joint franchise investment.

The key is to maintain your own working space and routine. Although the idea of a shared workspace sounds ideal in theory, the reality can be very different. Instead of productive discussions and collaboration, a tight working environment can result in unnecessary arguments.

To avoid friction and disagreements, remember that just because you work together, it doesn’t mean that you have to live in each other’s pockets. Spend time on you. Go to the gym, go for a long walk or treat yourself to a solo shopping trip. Do whatever you need to give yourself enough space so that your professional relationship doesn’t ruin your personal one.

Take a break and go and do something that you enjoy on your own. If you’re spending all day working together, then all evening at home together, you could risk becoming irritated by your spouse. Give each other some space now and again and go and have some fun.

6. Enjoy it

Finally, setting up a franchise can be challenging, but extremely rewarding. Being able to share the experience of striving to be one of the best franchises can make you closer, rather than pull you apart.

Many couples would love the chance to work together, so appreciate the fortunate position that you’re in. Working in unison on a business that you’re both so passionate about can be very powerful and improve the likelihood of success and profitability.

It can also deepen an already robust relationship. Teamwork allows you to witness one another’s skills that you may not have known existed. Seeing each other from a different perspective can help you appreciate the talents and abilities of your other half even more than before.

Also, when you do have successes to celebrate, you get to enjoy them together. Agree milestones for your franchise business and when they’ve been achieved, take time out of your busy schedules and recognise what a great job you’re doing together.

Conclusion

Running a business with your spouse is something of a balancing act and at times it may test your relationship. However, if it is well thought-through and you have followed the tips above, there’s no reason why both the business and the marriage can’t thrive. If the relationship is secure, both parties should understand that building a strong, robust relationship requires constant attention and the marriage could break down if it is neglected. Both your marriage and business will be more resilient if you nurture them.