Running a business with your ex might seem like a bad idea, but it could be that you need each other. Financial gain and keeping an income is the reason you started it, right? So how do you do it? From keeping it respectful to defining boundaries, here are some handy suggestions.
How to Continue Running a Business with Your Ex
Work on a Co-Ownership Policy
Starting a business together is a great thing for a married couple to do. But it can turn bad after a divorce. But it doesn’t have to be bitterness and backstabbing. As responsible adults, you can work on a co-ownership plan using services like Beyond Family Lawyers. Solicitors can handle any legal paperwork and help draw up contracts. This can also help you define the specific roles that each party will play in the business moving forward, with legal ramifications for breaches.
Keep It Respectful at Work
Going through a divorce or a bad breakup can make things tense between two people. And you can do and say things that maybe you shouldn’t. Things may calm down, and then again, they may flair up. But no matter how your personal lives are, you must not bring it into work. This is bad for both of you. But it is also not fair on any employees who have to listen to you argue all the time, and they may even leave. And you will lose business if you argue in front of customers.
Responsibilities in a Business with Your Ex
Divorce is a common thing these days, and in the UK alone, around 500,000 people each year go through it. Yet even after a divorce, you and your ex still have responsibilities at home and at the business and you need each other to succeed. Work out what each of you brings to the table and how your skills are best used for a professional healthy relationship. Professional respect for each other can lead to mutual respect moving forward and help keep things more relaxed.
Define and Stick to Boundaries
It won’t help if your personal lives are mingling and intertwining with your business. This is a recipe for disaster, and clear boundaries must be set. Keep things very professional, as you would with any other member of staff. And never bring your relationship into the business. For example, becoming romantically involved again. This almost never ends well and is not relevant to the business either. Try to think of your ex as you would any other co-worker or employee.
Have an Exit Plan
Trying to get along and working on the business is always the best thing to do. But it sometimes doesn’t work out, and you may have to leave. It helps if you plan for this situation in case you need to move on. List the strategies for getting out, such as selling your part of the business or coming to an agreement about selling it as a whole. Or you can suggest arrangements for bringing people in who can do the job that you would typically do, if only for a little while.
Summary
A co-ownership policy can help when trying to continue running a business with your ex. It also helps to define boundaries and responsibilities moving forward. And in case it doesn’t work out, work on an exit plan that both of you can agree on, such as selling the business, for example.
