I think we’d all agree the old saying ‘never mix business with pleasure’ is a pretty good rule to follow. It helps to establish some boundaries between work and home…and it may even prevent us from dabbling in questionable office romances.
It would appear, however, that times are changing. The Warwick Business School and MORE TH>N BUSINESS teamed up to do a little bit of research and found that our spouses and partners are the people we trust the most to go into business with.
50% of those who took part in the study said that if they were setting up a business, they would choose to do so with their spouse/partner. Parents came in a distant second with 17% of the vote, friends got 10%, offspring got only 7% and existing colleagues received a measly 2% of the vote.
On the surface, these results seem to make sense: we spend the majority of our time with our partners, we trust them, we share everything with them and we feel we know them well. But, to play devil’s advocate for just a moment, isn’t it just plain risky? If the relationship goes sour, it could be detrimental to the business – or vice versa.
What do you think? If you work with your partner, we’d love to hear how it’s working out for you. And if you don’t work with your partner, would you consider doing so?
Results
Would you work with your Spouse or Partner?
Yes - I have nothing to hide.
No - We would have split up within the month!
This poll closed on 29/08/2009
