What if you could build the kind of life together where each day was an adventure in growing your relationship, alongside a business based on your combined aptitudes, interests, and gifts?
If you wanted to embark on this sort of adventure together, one of the first things you’d want ot know is what style of relationship you have. We’ve witnessed four basic styles:
My Way
Does one of you do what they please, expecting the other to fall in line? That’s what we’d call a “My Way or the Highway” couple. Trying to start or run a business with a dominating partner might work for while, with one telling the other what to do, and they do it. Don’t expect it to last, though. Eventually, you’ll have one seriously resentful capitulator. This doesn’t work well in marriage OR in business.
Horse Trading
Maybe you’re the couple with few common interests. You’ve worked out a system that seems fair: She does one thing so he can do another. “If you get to do that, then I get to do this.” We call that “Horse Trading”. It’s unlikely this couple is even interested enough in each other to start a business together, but if they did, they would probably nickel and dime each other to death.
Mutual Support
Are you determined to have a more mature approach? Perhaps you show appreciation for each other’s interests, and even allow time and resources to support them? This would be a “Mutually Supportive” relationship. Nothing wrong with this, and probably most are okay for a lifetime in this model. However, this couple is unlikely to build something together, since they are more interested in their own individual endeavors.
Partnership
So, maybe you’re the couple who want to build a dream together. You might each be doing things separately from time to time, like going to work, or staying home to parent kids, but you’ve come together at some point and agreed that everything you’re both doing is done with a common dream in mind. We call this “Partnership”. In a partnership, you communicate often about most things that touch your lives. You learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses. You share common interests. You experience things together and try new things, believing that if your partner is interested in something, there must be something about it that would interest you, too.
Now What?
Now, maybe you thought you had a partnership, but are realizing that’s more what you want, and less what you actually have. We think that can change, and we believe that working together on a shared goal, like an online business, can help get you there.
We’ve been married for 25 years, and have been in business together for 20 of those. As the years have ticked by, we’ve come to realize a number of things:
- Because we share so much time together, we know each other very well
- And, because we are building something that takes all of each of our strengths, we have learned to appreciate each other
- Building a business together gives us the confidence to pursue other dreams together, too!
Maybe you’ve never even thought about starting something together. Or, maybe you just didn’t know you could.
To learn more about the 4 Styles of Marriage, download our free eBook.
