It doesn’t matter whether you are working with your best friend, your parents, your siblings or your spouse, working together can be challenging. Things can be rolling along just fine and then suddenly a minor detail sparks disagreement. Whenever that happens it impacts the  relationship. It can affect our work and spill over into our lives. Over time, what can feel like transgressions stack and fixing it gets harder. Most of us have experienced it in our own lives. As a copreneur your business’ success depends largely on the relationship with your partner. That’s why giving the relationship the attention it deserves is more than a good idea, it’s a wise business strategy.

What’s Wrong With Compromise

When my husband and I became a copreneur couple, we knew one another well. But, it wasn’t well enough to prepare us for the many bumps we encountered. We soon learned that our disagreements stemmed from our vastly differing perspectives. Our unique backgrounds led us to different decisions. Yet, when there is disagreement in coupledom, one person is generally more willing to compromise. Over time, that’s not a healthy pattern, nor is it likely to reach the best solution. Both can derail the business and keep the relationship from thriving. 

The Solution is Simple

As a coach for copreneurs and families in business together, I help my clients through this dilemma by helping them develop one very simple strategy:  Get to know yourself and each other better. With deeper understanding, we can unravel the mysteries of our own and each other’s way of thinking and reactions. 

You’re likely asking “How do I get to know myself and my partner better?”  The answer is simple: get curious in your day to day interactions. The key is not to wait for a conflict to arise before you get curious. Here’s how to do that:

When two people choose to live, love, and work together, they’re pooling their resources to build their own business. That takes both vision and courage. Each time I meet a new copreneurial couple, I am excited for them because they are embarking on one of life’s great journeys. The learning they will do and the challenges they will meet are sure to stretch and grow them both. How their journey goes depends on their working partnership. And much like a good marriage counselor helps a marriage, I can help a copreneurship.

Back in 2000, my husband and I were one of those couples embarking on our own start-up journey. Looking back, we were young, naive and brimming with optimism. We soon realized that our new venture in working together was a big deal. Unlike the jobs we had left behind, we were now going home with the boss, working together 24/7. Our finances, our relationship, our family, our future were all at stake. In fact, working together was at the core of everything we did all those years. And when we worked well together, we not only did our best work, we were also most fulfilled. Working together leads to one outcome while working together well leads to an exponentially better one.

I had to learn the hard way how to make a copreneurial partnership work at work and at home. I can help you not only avoid the pitfalls, but build the foundation to build a great business while living a great life. Here are a few key strategies I can help you with: