Advice for couples who double as business partners

Most couples agree that they love spending as much time as they can with their partner, but they like having a daily break while at work, too. But what about couples who work together?

Whether at home or in an office, it can be challenging for couples to combine work and play without driving each other bonkers!

In order to prevent useless fights, couples need to learn ways to make — and keep — the peace. Here, we're providing tips for couples who work together either at home or in an office.

For those who don't work together, working at home with your spouse may seem like a dream come true (the grass is always greener, right?). You can have breakfast and lunch together, chat throughout the day and go on afternoon walks. Sounds like heaven — but if you're actually living in this situation, you know that it's not always as nice as it seems. You never get a “break” or time to yourself. Also, if one of you is having a bad day, the other person is totally aware and it takes away from the excitement you feel when you finally get to see each other after a long day's work.

Have separate offices. At the very least, have two separate work areas. You both need to be able to focus on your own job without being distracted by the other person.Set your own schedule. Are you an early riser but your spouse prefers to work late? That's OK — create a schedule that works for you.Designate time to spend together. Make a habit of spending some time during your day with your spouse. Maybe you want to eat lunch together every afternoon or take a 15-minute break in the afternoon to chat. It's up to you — but having a small amount of time set aside to talk to your spouse eliminates disruptions when you're both working.Disclaimer: If you and your spouse run a business together at home, you may need to share an office and set office hours that work for the both of you. You should still designate a specific slot of time to simply reconnect throughout the day, though.

Almost everyone knows (or is) a couple that met through work. While there's nothing wrong with this, it's important to remain professional and not let your personal life interfere with your job.

Don't carpool once a week. Though carpooling saves on gas, this is your only chance to have some alone time, run errands after work or make separate lunch plans.Keep PDA to a minimum. If your husband comes to your desk at the end of the day and greets you with a kiss, that's perfectly acceptable. But know that excessive PDA can make others uncomfortable, especially in the workplace, so keep it to a minimum.Set clear boundaries. Keep work at work and your personal life at home. At the office, there's no need to discuss personal matters — save that for the car ride home. Same goes for work talk — it's normal to discuss it at home every once in a while, but make sure to focus on your relationship instead of your work life.

And finally — there are those lucky couples who actually run a business together. This is a challenging feat for even the strongest of couples.

Communication is key. Just because your spouse is your business partner doesn't mean you can't speak up about changes you think are necessary. On the flip side, it also doesn't give you the right to be bossy or rude. Communicate your needs clearly, as you would to a regular business associate.Use each other's strengths. The beauty of working with your spouse is you know them better than you know anyone else. Separate your work into areas that allow you each to focus on your strengths and run the business the most efficiently.Continue bonding as a couple. Those that run a business together tend to lose sight of who they are as a couple. Continue to go on date nights, cook romantic meals at home and partake in hobbies together. Don't let your spouse strictly become your business partner.

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Why The Smith Family Business Is A Little Creepy

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". The prospect of working in a family business always seemed odd to me, even though a lot of families do it: the Madoffs, for instance, the Sulzbergers, the Bluths."

Fitzgerald was right: The very rich are different from you and me. As exhibit A, let’s take a look at young Jaden Smith, son of Fresh Prince Will. A likable enough lad, I suppose, half-talented and amiable. But good lord, does he sound flaky, particularly in a recent, entertainingly bizarre interview with New York magazine.

While doing the publicity rounds for After Earth, their sci-fi tentpole extravaganza directed (warning) by M. Night Shyamalan, Elder Smith and Younger Smith did a whack of media appearances together, much of it playing up their on-screen father-son relationship. (Jaden plays Kitai Raige, Will plays Cypher. Cypher Raige? Seriously? M. Night wrote this, so take it from there.)

The global film press sighed their collective “Aww!” and dutifully went about gushing over the two. But only New York really showed how odd they are, Jaden especially. Right at the top, the two discuss patterns -- as in, patterns of life, patterns of the universe, mathematical patterns that we can’t yet comprehend. It sounds like nonsense, something blurted out by a spaced-out, disassociated Malibu rich kid. Which is no big surprise, since that pretty much describes Jaden.

Will claims to be “a student of patterns. At heart, I’m a physicist.” Sure. Jaden, meanwhile, believes that “there is that special equation for everything, but I don’t think our mathematics have evolved enough for us to even -- I think there’s, like, a whole new mathematics that we’d have to learn to get that equation. It’s beyond mathematical. It’s, like, multidimensional mathematical, if you can sort of understand what I’m saying.” No, but whatevs, let’s roll with it.

The two go on to discuss something a bit more down to Earth: working together as father and son. Granted, they’re working together in the movies, but, as Jaden says, “I’m just working in my family business with my dad. Patterns, boom.” Boom. Hollywood asskiss gossip blogger Perez Hilton calls that particular insight “So interesting!”

But this is what got me thinking. The prospect of working in a family business always seemed odd to me, even though a lot of families do it: the Madoffs, for instance, the Sulzbergers, the Bluths. But when things get screwy at work, the results can be awkward, if not downright catastrophic, when family members are involved. How do you fire your son? How do you trash-talk the boss with your colleagues when he’s your dad? The useless HR department is run by your sister. It can make family dinners even more unpleasant than usual. Next Page >>

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