Money Matters with Jim Doyle: Couples in Business Together

Money Matters with Jim Doyle
Season 2, Episode 11 – Couples in Business Together
Visit our Money Matters with Jim Doyle show page for current schedule info.

One of the beauties of family business is its informality intertwined with its long-term capital perspective. Certainly, forming a business partnership with your spouse comes with benefits like sharing goals and values, trust, and commitment, as well as the ability to celebrate your accomplishments together. Challenges can include competing agendas, working styles, bringing work home, and blending personal and professional pressures.

Uniquely, most couples in business will be betting both of their retirement plans on the success of the business. Surprisingly, most couples have difficulty talking about money – but when it comes to a family business, not developing effective communication skills can jeopardize the couples’ business success and family dynamics. As your business grows, will there be a greater need for enhanced governance structures that address business planning, staffing and growth?

Couples successfully running a business together is a trend that’s on the rise – but that’s not to say that it’s easy. Working alongside each other every day and maintaining a healthy relationship can be challenging. The lines between business and love are often blurred, so the existence of simple rules at work and at home can make a world of difference. Commitment to open communication and active listening can go a long way to ensuring you reach your collective entrepreneurial and personal goals.

What is this episode about?

In this episode we will meet an entrepreneurial couple who have achieved success by keeping a keen eye on nurturing business and family needs. Steve and Meghan Clarke, founders of Tractor At Home and Tractor Everyday Healthy Foods, share their perspectives on running a thriving company as a couple while raising a young family. Registered Clinical Counsellor, Deborah Brakeley, and Claire Sutton, Registered Clinical Counsellor and Family Enterprise Advisor, underscore the importance of three areas of focus for couples in business: respectful communication; independent hobbies and interests (outside of the relationship and the enterprise); and a collaborative approach that addresses and blends the needs of the family, the business, and the couple’s relationship.

What do you hope will come out of the show?

Without realizing it, some businesses can demand everything from you, leaving little left over for personal relationships. Personal boundaries and healthy relationships are vital, but it’s also essential for spouses to talk openly about goals, dreams, and fears; including personal, family, and business objectives. Critical analysis can be hard to come by when your business partner is also your spouse. What’s key, is the owner receives some independent advice about the different aspects of the business.

It’s important to formalize a process, so the business owner has some accountability Although entrepreneurship can be a roller-coaster ride of dizzying highs and stomach-turning lows, couples in business together share this exhilarating journey – capturing the essence of togetherness in a way that very few of us will ever experience.

Watch Money Matters with Jim Doyle Thursdays at 5pm PT and Sundays at 7am PT on Joytv. The program also airs on FaithTV Mondays and Wednesdays at 4pm CT / 5pm ET.

Jim Doyle, Doyle & Associates Private Wealth Management, Investors Group Financial Services Inc.

Doyleandassociatesprivatewealth.com


This is a general source of information only. It is not intended to provide personalized tax, legal or investment advice, and is not intended as a solicitation to purchase securities. Jim Doyle is solely responsible for its content. For more information on this topic or any other financial matter, please contact an IG Wealth Management Consultant. Views of guest speakers may not be shared by IG Wealth.

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