OMG! Do you really want to work with your wife? | The Appletree ...

Posted on April 3, 2013 by CPAsteve

Ask questions before going into business with your spouse.

Starting and running a business is rarely a safe or simple process, and doing so with one?s spouse creates an additional layer of complexity. Whether that complexity will have a positive or negative effect depends on several factors.

Here are some of the questions you need to discuss before being certain that going into business with your spouse is a good thing.

• How well do you work together at home? If you cooperate and collaborate for domestic chores, you?ll probably carry that pattern into your workplace. If you bicker constantly over how to do the laundry or maintain the yard, working together in business might be a risky option. Even if you work well together, some disagreements are inevitable.
• How do you handle differences of opinion? We all know that at home, she?s always right, but that answer is not always the best way to handle difference where one?s livelihood is at stake. Where there are equal ?partners? in a business, consider a mutually trusted 3rd party to resolve differences, such as a business adviser or accountant.
• Will your business be adequately capitalized? You won?t have an outside salary to fall back on during hard times.
• Will there be other partners or employees? Each spouse?s role and responsibilities with respect to coworkers and subordinates should be clearly defined. Spouses with drastically different management styles can make life miserable for everyone.
• Will one of you be supervising the other? You?ll need to concentrate on treating one another with respect, especially when giving or taking constructive criticism. Conversely, continually overlooking your spouse?s mistakes or failings may drag down employee morale or harm your business.
• Are your strengths complementary or redundant? For example, if you?re a pair of engineers starting an engineering firm, you might leave functions such as marketing and accounting to employees or outside services so you can work together within your area of expertise. If you find your professional decisions tend to clash, consider splitting up your clients or processes and working separately within two divisions.

I also recommend coming up with a simple method of holding each other accountable with some sort of monthly performance monitoring. This can be particularly useful where one spouse is delegated the task of ?bookkeeper?, but really has little clue about the impact day to day decisions may have on the whole business.

Most of all, good luck, and don?t forget to call for help, if you need it!

Presented by Steven A Feinberg, CPA of Appletree Business Services LLC, a PASBA member accountant, located in Londonderry, New Hampshire, with more than twenty- five years experience on Federal and New Hampshire issues affecting small business, and specializes in tax, payroll and business planning for his clients throughout the year. Steve is a recognized member-contributor of the book, Six Steps to Small Business Success. For additional information, you are encouraged to email Steve at [email?protected] or call (603) 434-2775.

Steven A. Feinberg ? www.AppletreeBusiness.com ? Get Appletree Blog via Email ? Follow CPAsteve on Twitter

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Business, New Hampshire, Small Business, spouse

Source: http://blog.appletreebusiness.com/2013/04/03/omg-do-you-really-want-to-work-with-your-wife/

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