How couples run a home business without running each other down

How a Funky Ice Cream Truck Can Change Your Business

Combining marriage and business is not an endeavor to be taken lightly. It requires serious consideration and answers to some tough questions. Here are 10 tips for running a successful home-based business with your spouse:

-- Determine if you can work side by side. Ask yourself honestly if you can work patiently alongside your spouse day in and day out, and then go from business partner to life partner after work. If you can't picture yourself making this transition, then you probably should not run a business together.

-- Discuss your goals. Are your visions for the business the same as those of your spouse? Even the strongest marriage will be tested if you are working at cross-purposes.

-- Write a business plan and solicit feedback. Once you detail your vision, show it to a consultant for an objective opinion. There is tremendous value in feedback from an unbiased source.

-- Define each person's role. The roles can be flexible (and will likely have to change over time) but must at least address the basics: who will keep the books, who will do the shipping, etc.

-- Keep the lines of communication open. Don't be critical of one another -- and don't be dismissive or contemptuous of your partner. Confront the challenges of the business, not one another.

-- Be circumspect when talking with clients. Your customers don't need to know that your partner in business is also your partner in life. Confiding in a client about your relationship with your partner can poison your relationship with your customer as well as your marriage.

-- Form a united front. Do not allow employees or customers to pit one of you against the other. Never put a sale or a customer ahead of your spouse.

-- Set firm boundaries and honor them. Set up your office in a space that doesn't disrupt the entire family.

-- Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Draw up legal agreements detailing how the business will be divided if you split up or if one of you decides to opt out of the business. Also, have a contingency plan in place in the event that your spouse falls short of his or her business obligations.

-- Don't deal with family matters during business hours. Running a small business and being a good partner and parent are each difficult on their own. To do both concurrently will almost ensure that you fail at both. Set specific times outside of business hours for discussing family business.

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Setting some boundaries

Here are some strategies on how to set boundaries effectively so you can stay focused, motivate yourself and be more productive working out of your home.

-- Regularly set goals.

-- Create a distinct and defined work area.

-- Allocate personal and business time.

-- Set office hours.

-- Get a separate phone line for work.

-- Take vacations away from home.

-- Project a professional image.

-- Stay connected professionally through association and events.

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Plan today for tomorrow

At the end of each workday, jot down a to-do list of things you want to accomplish the next workday, in order of priority.

Even the most successful and conscientious small-business owners need help handling all they need to accomplish.

Planning tomorrow's schedule today will get you looking ahead and you'll avoid wasting time deciding what should come next.

AllBusiness.com provides information about products and services for entrepreneurs, small businesses and professionals to start, manage, finance and build a business. Visit www.allbusiness.com.

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