Building a Business or Love Story?

As an entrepreneur, you might think business and love can’t mix. Nowadays, couples creating extremely successful businesses is becoming a trend.

Ever wondered what else is out there while working your 9-5? Do you daydream about what far-off it would be like to be your own boss?

Six years ago, my husband and I took a chance and started a company from the ground up and you can too. That’s not to say that it’s easy. Working together every day to build a company while maintaining your relationship is sometimes hard work. So how can it be possible to become one of those couples that continue to thrive while being successful entrepreneurs?

Every year, millions of couples challenge themselves by starting a new business. For some, it’s the best decision they have ever made. It allows them to spend more time together by working each day, side by side as entrepreneurs. For others, trying to run a business while also in a relationship can mean stress on their relationship or business or both. It’s challenging to keep a healthy balance with the demands on any given day. So, what makes you different?

The stress of building a company as a completely new venture can become exhausting. There are times of uncertainty when you don’t know if you will accomplish what you’ve set out to do in the beginning. Also, there is a huge financial risk that you both face when taking on an entrepreneurial role. It is all par for the course, and when you have focus, determination, as well as the right structure to go off of, you can end up flourishing as a self-made entrepreneur.

Work For Yourself

My partner and I, while working at our average jobs decided to go for what we had been daydreaming about doing. We took a huge leap to set out to do something that made us able to spend every day together, to live a life that made each day enjoyable. In the beginning, the thought of quitting our jobs and risking it all seemed overwhelming. It will seem that way because to do something you never thought possible; you are required to do things you have never done before.

Brainstorm ideas of what would make you thrive if you became an entrepreneur. Think of what would make you happy every day, some far off something that you’ve always wondered about. Now, bounce these thoughts off your partner and see what their opinion is. It should be something that you imagine becoming extremely successful with, something you can become an expert on and have passion for. Write down any ideas that pop into your head and create a road map of ways that would you get you to your end goal.

Consider a Business

Start today, you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to. Determination and a strong work ethic can take you so far, especially when you have a partner to help you get there.

By implementing a set of roles and a goal to keep motivated, you can end up creating a healthy work relationship and a thriving personal life. My husband and I built a great company, we are so proud to be able to work together and live a comfortable life for ourselves full of enjoyment and adventure. Here are some strategies we used that helped us along the way and these are still the bones of what keeps us going today as prosperous entrepreneurs.

Communication Is Critical

Communication is power. In any relationship communication is the foundation. If you lack communication with your partner, you will become frustrated which will affect your business and personal relationship. Always remember to be respectful when explaining your ideas to one another.  Be willing to compromise on tough decisions. Listen to one another’s opinions and appreciate that you can have two separate perspectives as leaders of the company. Be reasonable when conflicts arise because remember you are a partner in more ways than one. Strong communication skills also require you to have an open mind on any topic. This will bring you one step closer to your goals.

Keep It, Professional

While running a business, professionalism is number one, especially when it comes to a partnership. Work-life and love life require separation from one another. Letting emotions get in the way of your entrepreneurial skills will likely get in the way of your potential. Be sure to treat your partner as a colleague, and recognize your unique and individual skills that are assets to building the company.

Celebrate Wins

Having two people who are invested in a business and relationship together means you are focused and all in.  It enables you to have so much time to put into growing a business. The respect and encouragement you can give to each other to keep moving forward are so much greater than one person in it alone. This is an asset to any business but comes so easily if you are already a couple and love to spend time together.

Celebrating the smallest moments of success helps so much in the beginning. I can remember years ago when we finally got our company up, running, and the jobs started coming in. I was so proud that I made my husband a congratulatory cake to celebrate the new success. Positive reinforcement for the small milestones creates motivation, leading to more success. We pride ourselves on that.

Work-Life Balance

Creating a balance between work life and your love life is a definite must in this type of situation. Be sure to define your roles right from the start so there is never any confusion on who is doing what. Discuss boundaries and what each person is comfortable taking on. Both partners will share similar core values, separating your roles doesn’t negate this, it will amplify it. The separation between your relationship and work lifework-life is necessary for any power couple to prosper.

For us, we made sure that even when traveling for work, we were able to find time to date. We would work together side by side all day to get us one step closer to finishing the job. After our day was complete, we made time to plan a date of some sort and explore the area we were visiting for work. We had the luxury of traveling in a province that was new to us, so we made it an adventure when we could.

Get Inspired

Have a clear goal that you both agree on and stick to it. By sticking to it, I mean never losing focus. The greatest part about the partnership is that when one of you gets discouraged or loses motivation the other one can pick up the slack. This will happen to each partner from time to time and having unique skill sets usually means that you will go through tough times separately during the start upstart-up process. Emotional connection can keep you going and help one another when the partner needs it most. The partnership often will have a dream and a purpose, for the big picture of the entrepreneurial role- this keeps you both motivated. When you go through rough patches where days seem hard, find comfort in one another to keep going and remember what you should keep the focus on. Always pick each other up, communicate your weaknesses, work through them as a couple for the business and you will shine.

Plan to Travel

Whether it’s work-related or not. Be sure to travel to learn more and open your mind to endless opportunities. We experienced so much of this through our business. We made sure to always be open to unique jobs that took us to areas we had never seen before even if they were far from home. In doing so, we enjoyed our relationship so much, as well as growing our expertise. For us, one of our goals was to travel and see more parts of the world. We made sure that if an opportunity came up for a chance to travel for work, without a doubt we made it happen.

Aside from traveling for work. Our goal was to make money to travel for pleasure. We loved seeing new places and experiencing new things. Setting short-term goals helps you stay motivated in wanting to reach long-term goals more quickly.

Take the Plunge

There is no denying that power couples go further, faster. For us, it has been the greatest reward we could’ve ever dreamed of. There is no reason that you and your partner can’t do the same. Go out and chase after your dreams. Start that business you’ve been thinking about. Do the research and focus your attention on what you want from it. Communicate to your partner your interest in a new venture of an entrepreneurial role, you may just jump right into a life-changing opportunity.

Creating a new business is no easy feat. Not only do you need to have the right mindset to get you to your goal, but you also must work very hard for it. If you are in a great relationship, then you enjoy spending a lot of time together and would be open to doing something where you could work together. You absolutely can dive into something so new to you. In the fast-paced world, we live, you can do research anywhere, become extremely knowledgeable on any subject and become an expert if you are willing to put in the work. Consider building a business and make it part of your love story.