Commitment, passion, and communication. Is this mixture a recipe for the perfect marriage or the perfect business plan?
The truth is, it’s both!
In many ways, starting your own business is a lot like committing to a life partner. It takes guts, empathy, and a whole lot of heart to make it work. But, once you get past the first few bumps in the road, it’s one of the most satisfying and rewarding choices you will ever have made.
It may not sound very romantic, but the truth is, marriage and business have a lot more in common than you might think. Understanding the parallels can help you apply the lessons and learnings across both in mutually beneficial ways. How has your relationship has prepared you to be a successful woman entrepreneur?
Here are 6 Ways a new business is like starting a marriage
It Makes You Nervous
Think back to when you first met your partner. Likely, you were nervous when you first approached them. You had butterflies in your stomach when you had your first date and went through various phases of wondering whether you were truly in the relationship for the long haul.
Just like the energetic spark you feel at the beginning of a relationship, starting your own business is bound to make you nervous, yet full of excitement. Nerves can be a good thing. Fear can inspire you to push forward, motivate you to succeed, and keep you on your toes.
So, the next time you feel nervous about beginning your Startup, don’t run from it. Embrace it.
You Need a Plan
As things progressed in your romantic relationship, you started to see the wise need for planning ahead. Where was your relationship going?
Eventually, you decided together to get serious. To become engaged. To tie the knot in front of all your friends and family. You made a vow of forever and ever, through sickness and in health. As time went on, you planned to buy a house, move away, start a family and the list goes on.
The same goes for business. Once you decide to build your startup, you’re going to need a plan.
You will need to:
Do your research
Plan out your financial strategy for building your start-up
Choose your business structure
Decide on a name and register your company
Get permits, licenses, locations, and employees
A strong business, like a strong marriage, doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, effort, and plenty of planning to get it right.
Communication Becomes Your Lifeline
Ask anyone and they will tell you that the key to a successful and healthy marriage is to communicate with one another. From the good to the bad, nothing should be off the table when it comes to talking with your partner.
Without communication, you would never know if there was a problem. you wouldn’t know how to resolve things. And frankly, you wouldn’t know your partner very well.
The same goes for starting a business. Communication will get you everywhere.
In business, you will need to communicate with your partners, financial backers, and your clients. This transparency will put all of the aforementioned at ease and build a solid reputation for yourself and your fledgling company.
Communication is also how you maintain business relationships. Talking will also facilitate innovation, inspire your team, and contribute to the company’s growth.
Similar to marriage, if you aren’t making communication a focus in your business, you need to make it a priority ASAP.
Also read 14 Great Ways to Find a Business Partner
You Know your Strengths and Weaknesses
In a marriage, you know the positive qualities of your marriage. Perhaps you are both fiercely loyal or have excellent communication skills. But, you also know what areas still need a little bit of work.
Similar to marriage, you need to know your business inside and out if you want it to stay healthy and thriving. You have to do the legwork of finding out about your competition. You have to know how to make your business better than the rest to meet your market’s needs.
It can be incredibly helpful for entrepreneur women to get their most trusted friends and family to do an unbiased test run of their service or product to see if any refinements are in order.
Just like a marriage, when it comes to starting your new business, there is always room to learn and grow.
Want tools & freebies to learn and help grow your business?
Check out this awesome library of Digital Tools for Entrepreneurs!
You Learn to Pick – and Fight! – Your Battles
When it comes to being married, you learn that the way to maintain a healthy relationship is by choosing your battles wisely. Vetoing moving out of the country for your spouse’s job is a little more reasonable than thinking they are going to throw their dirty socks in the hamper like you’ve asked them to (a million times).
Similarly, you’re going to have to learn to pick your battles in business. You’re also going to have to learn to resolve conflict in a way that is professional, fair, and doesn’t involve screaming your head off.
Also read 10 Questions to Enrich the Career Conversation with Your Spouse
You Have to Jump in Wholeheartedly, or Not at All
When you said yes to marrying your spouse, you jumped in with your whole heart and soul. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about staying togethEr for life. And if any challenges come along the way, you’ve both vowed to make it work. Because, that’s love!
Similarly, you need to be fully committed to making your business work.
Starting a business isn’t easy. In fact, in many cases, it’s extremely tiring. You’re going to be emotionally exhausted. You’ll feel financially spent. And your family life may even suffer along the way. But you must persevere. After all, there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – and your business is no different!
It may sound strange at first, but when you think about it now, starting a business is very similar to starting a marriage. If you want to build a successful business, take a few tips from your the successes in a good marriage. Hone your passion, love, patience, and communication skills. You won’t regret it!
Rachael Pace is a relationship expert with years of experience in training and helping couples. She has helped countless individuals and organizations around the world, offering effective and efficient solutions for healthy and successful relationships. She is a featured writer for Marriage.com, a reliable resource to support healthy happy marriages.
I regularly contribute interesting and hugely engaging editorials on popular sites like Askmen, Divorce Magazine, CupidsPulse, FairyGodBoss, DailyMom.
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That is a brilliant comparison. When I look back to when I started my business and read this blog I can totally relate and it does feels like starting a marriage. Great blog! Thank you for this!
What an interesting way to look at a new biz, but it’s absolutely true. I think if you approach it like you would a marriage you will have more success.
I’ve never thought of how they are similar but now I see it! I 100% agree that a new business is just like starting a marriage! Communication is very important.
I agree, a new business is very much like a new marriage.
Great post! You present a solid analogy, and I agree with your points; especially that bit about jumping in wholeheartedly.
Perfect article about starting business. I love this words “Fear can inspire you to push forward, motivate you to succeed, ” so very motivate and inspiring
I had never considered looking at a new business like a marriage before, but this makes absolute sense!
This is such a great resource and I especially agree with the fact that one should always remember that there’s a pot of gold at the end. Thanks for sharing.
I really wouldn’t have thought about a new business being like a marriage. You do have to commit to both and have to plan things out.
so true.. we do need all of these to succeed in both.. for success in blogging (business), i do need to make sure i have all of these
This analogy makes total sense but I hadn’t ever thought of it. I got married this year and am in the process of starting my own business so I totally related to all your points.
I’ve never thought about the correlation between starting your own business and marriage, but it makes perfect sense – the commitment, the planning, the communication, etc. What a great post and tips, and something that can be studied and used to help make your business a success. Thank you so much for sharing this!
What a lovely comparison between business and marriage! I agree with all your points. Starting a new business needs commitment and complete devotion just as starting a marriage.