When your business partner is also your life partner

Here we are, more than one year after founding Quentin GmbH. As I look back, I often reflect on how the founding of a business has impacted my professional and private life and I think it is important to share some insights. Therefore, I decided to share my answer to one of the most recurring questions that friends, relatives, and sometimes also colleagues ask me about Quentin.

That is: “How do you run a business with your boyfriend?”

Indeed, my business partner Marko Petrovic, co-founder of the company, also happens to be at my side as life partner. Therefore, a very valid question! This is what I feel has helped us until today:

1. Frame the business as any other lifetime project.

There is no difference between deciding on the area of the city where your next flat should be and identifying your business core or your customers. Thinking about your business like any other project to carry out together helps scale challenges back, approach them step by step and focus on what really matters.

2. Keep your vision aligned.

Assess often how you see yourself, the two of you and your business evolving in both the near and far future, and state clearly what you want to get out of that for your personal and professional growth. If your visions and expectations are aligned, you can easily join forces and strive for the common good.

3. Split tasks and responsibilities.

Recognize what your and your partner’s points of strength are, and on those take the lead (for example, one is good in administration, the other in marketing). However, always align before taking any final decision and always be willing to listen to or ask for your partner’s advice. ?

4.?Embrace even the worst-case scenario.

We’re no heroes and we know all can happen in life. If this is true, we must admit that the possibility for us to split apart exists. However, the last thing we can allow ourselves is to be scared and reject the facts, particularly when the life of our employees depends on how good Quentin does. Therefore, we looked straight into our fears and simply discussed what it would look like. When even the worst-case scenario reveals itself as manageable, you can quantify risks better and go ahead with a light heart.

I know what you’re thinking. “How boring. These just sound like common things that should anyways apply between business partners. Are you saying there’s no small trick that you guys can tell us?”. Well, yes, there is something that can help a couple be successful in business. I would even argue this is the most basic requirement for any business relationship, irrespective of the partners being friends, colleagues, or lovers. That is, make sure you’ve got a healthy relationship with the people you’re starting a business with, in which you bring respect and honesty (and at times love) at any cost, and from which you must demand the same. If this is given, you can expect your business relationship (and your private one as well) to remain solid, even through hard times.

I hope this could shed a light on how to combine love and business, and possibly guide you on how to choose and deal with your next business partners.

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment, and hear you soon!