Love and Entrepreneurship

by Jerry Mitchell Entrepreneur’s Edge Radio Show JAMBlack06@gmail.com

February is the month of love and during that month on my show, Entrepreneur’s Edge with Jerry Mitchell, we wondered out loud about entrepreneurs in love relationships. According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, about 43% of small business enterprises are family businesses, with 53% of managers sharing day-to-day business responsibilities with a spouse. With all the pressures of running a business, how are they able to work together, especially if they are married.

To explore this topic and get answers, we decided to host 3 married entrepreneurial couples on the show to find out about the love and entrepreneurship mix. The couples ranged from 5 years to nearly 30 years of marriage. All are highly successful serial entrepreneurs.

Here are just a few common takeaways from our conversations.

● If you are starting out in business together, find something you mutually love and are both interested in.

● Set goals together. Share what you both want and see for the future and determine how you can make it happen for each other.

● Identify strengths and determine what role is best suited to each spouse in the business. It is great to have a partner that sees things that the other may not.

● Be open to though conversations and knowing that roles may change with the seasons of your lives. Value each others’ opinions even when you disagree.

● Understand that conversations with your spouse at work are different than those with other co-workers. One of the biggest challenges is bringing business conversations (sometimes disagreements) home, particularly when you don’t have time to decompress.

● There is no work/life balance between business and home. Be intentional about your priorities when it comes to family and your spousal relationship. Habits determine success.

These thoughts seem so simple, yet our divorce rates would indicate they are not as easy to execute as they would appear. One thing rang true in conversation with all the couples was the spirit of togetherness, as each partner expressed just how much they enjoy being with each other. As the great Al Green lyric says, “happiness is when you really feel good about somebody”.