Sep 10, 2007

Being in business together can be betterBy Elizabeth LazarowitzGreatFallsTribune.com

Even after nearly a decade in business together, Shakoor and Marissa Watson, the husband-and-wife team behind Brooklyn bakery Shakoor’s Sweet Tooth, find that being together 24/7 isn’t exactly a piece of cake.

“When you don’t have any space, you don’t appreciate each other as much,” said Shakoor, 49, noting that it sometimes causes them to bicker over small things.

The duo tries to work separate shifts at their tiny shop and find time for their own hobbies “so when we do come back together, we’re refreshed,” Marissa, 47, said. “As hard as you work on your business, you have to work on your marriage.”

Whether you call them mom-and-pop shops or co-preneurial ventures, entrepreneurs who marry their home and work lives face unique challenges.

“A couple that goes into business together finds that the business and the work life is a tremendous part of their marriage,” said Wayne Rivers, president of the Family Business Institute. That means workplace frustrations can bleed into a relationship, and vice-versa.Being compatible in a romantic way doesn’t automatically make for a good business partnership, and differing work goals, ethics and priorities can foster a simmering resentment, Rivers said.

Elizabeth Cowell, 36, and Robert Wilson, 37, met as co-workers at a music retailer before they launched Brooklyn gift shop Sterling Place two years ago, so they felt confident they’d be a good fit as business partners.

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