Jacqueline Elliott warns that starting a business with your spouse can work if you have complementary skills and shared dreams, but fails when one partner abandons a career they love or roles become imbalanced. The relationship and business both suffer when the setup isn't intentional.
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So what I say to a lot of people that are wanting to start business together is, you know, it's a great, great thing, but also it can be a very scary thing for some people. So a lot of people look at me and they look at Andy, and they're like, hey, you guys are like the perfect duo, and you guys make such a good team. There's some things that he is really good at and some things that I'm good at. And then we basically have grown our business that way, so we make really good business partners, even though we're married. It's not for everybody, because sometimes one person's not built to do that like the other person. And, you know, sometimes opposites attract. So it's something that you really, really have to take into consideration. Weigh both options. Yes, it can be a dynamic duo, but it can also really ruin your relationship if you're not setting it up correctly and you're giving somebody stuff that you don't like to do or taking them away from something or their job or their career that they really love. To help you grow your dream, it has to be both of your dreams. It has to be something that you're growing together in order for it to work.