Can You and Your Spouse Run a Business Together? Making It Work

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Jobs can be a source of stress and conflict between spouses. Late nights in the office, always being on call for the boss, and work events cutting into family time can take their toll on any relationship. It's no surprise that some couples seek to eliminate these external career stresses by starting a business together.

For Randy and Angie Stocklin, the husband-and-wife team behind e-commerce company One Click Ventures, a business partnership was a natural fit. Their complementary skill sets and interests meant there was no defining moment where the couple discussed whether they should go into business or whether it would be feasible — it just happened naturally, Randy said.

The pair didn't know everything about running a business as a couple at the beginning, but they've learned some valuable lessons along the way about how to have a successful company and marriage simultaneously. The Stocklins, who just launched their company's third online eyewear brand, felix + iris, in September, shared a few words of wisdom for couples who are thinking about starting a business together.

A strong relationship means a strong business partnership. Good relationships, whether personal or professional, are built on mutual trust and respect. If your relationship with your spouse has a strong foundation, it's likely that you'll be able to run your business with that same strength.

"The greatest advantage to being a husband-and-wife team is the trust factor," Randy told Business News Daily. We always have the best interest of the business in mind and there is never a question of our individual motives because we know that our personal and professional interests are 100-percent aligned."

You probably won't (and shouldn't) work on the same tasks. If you think you and your sweetheart are going to be working side by side and sharing responsibilities, you may want to think again. When the Stocklins first started their business, Angie thought she'd be working on common tasks with her husband. She quickly learned that their very different strengths meant they were better suited to have separate responsibilities.

"At the end of the day, our varied strengths and divided responsibilities made us a stronger team because it allowed us to become experts and excel at different areas of the business," Angie said. "We didn't have competing strengths and therefore quickly learned to rely on the other person to carry their portion of the responsibility."

Your personal life matters, too. Any entrepreneur knows how time-consuming running a business can be. When you're working with your significant other, it can be even more challenging to find the time to devote to personal activities, such as side hobbies and spending time with other family members and friends.

"When you are an entrepreneur, the business consumes a huge portion of your time and mindshare," Randy said. "When you and your spouse are both working together on the same business on a full-time basis, your time and mindshare are squeezed even more than usual."

Committing to a healthful work-life balance as an entrepreneurial couple can be difficult, but it can help ensure that your business doesn't completely eclipse your relationship.

You both need to be fully committed to the 'entrepreneurial lifestyle.' Entrepreneurship isn't a 9-to-5 job, Angie said — it's a lifestyle choice. A couple who wants to go into business together needs to realize what this entails and prepare to devote themselves to it.

"Both you and your spouse need to know what you're getting into right from the very beginning," Angie said. "You have to understand the business before you start, but if you wait until everything is perfect, you'll never do it. Take an educated leap of faith, believe in your abilities, and continue working as hard as possible to iron out the details."

"If you have a strong relationship, complementary skills and shared goals, building a business together can be a very rewarding experience," Randy added. "You have to be honest with each other on all three of these points. If you check all three of these boxes as a couple and are prepared to face difficult situations together, you have a much better chance [of succeeding]."