A Business Partnership is Like A Marriage

A business partnership is the closest thing I know to marriage, and they both end in divorce … often. Here’s how Nick and I have kept our partnership at M&R Marketing alive for nearly 18 years.

We met junior year of high school and were friends long before we went into business together. When we did, we said we would always be 50/50.

Sound like marriage?

A few years into business, we came across the first client going through a partnership divorce. We’ve seen it every year since. We quickly realized how important it was to protect our relationship.

Businesses are fragile. Partnerships are fragile. Marriages are fragile.

We are both married and understand it takes work to keep relationships healthy, so here’s 7 things we do to keep us aligned:

1. Weekly lunch on the calendar that we don’t miss, and the conversation is rarely just about business.
2. Time outside of work together with our families.
3. Clear lanes in the business, knowing who owns what … and letting the other own it, without being second-guessed.
4. Trust in each other; we don’t have to wonder if the other is bought-in.
5. Removal of pride; it doesn’t matter whose idea it was or who gets internal or external recognition. What matters is that it got done.
6. Respect for each other’s decisions and their unique abilities.
7. Healthy discussion if something isn’t clicking between us.

For those in a business partnership, what’s helped your relationship grow?