The Art Of Mixing Business With Pleasure

More Black women are teaming up with romantic partners in entrepreneurial endeavors, but how do you run a business together without complicating the relationship? We asked four couples to share their secrets for juggling love and work.

- Abiola Abrams

Black women are the fastest-growing growing group of entrepreneurs in the country. In fact, the 2018 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report commissioned by American Express counted 2.4 million businesses owned by Black women that year.

Many of these industrious sisters opted to start companies with their significant other—or decided to keep it in the family by hiring them. Owning a company is challenging, but when your business partner is also your romantic partner, it can complicate things. “Some say you shouldn’t hire someone you can’t fire,” says Melinda F. Emerson, aka the SmallBizLady, who is the author of Fix Your Business and founder of succeed asyourownboss.com. “But when a common aim to grow financially begins to sync and manifest, the euphoria can be unmatched.” One way for couple preneurs to avoid typical relationship pitfalls—like allowing job-related frustrations to seep into family life —is to learn how to overcome these hurdles from others who have been there. Here four couples divulge their strategies for making their business partnerships successful. Take notes!

THEY SOLD THEIR DREAM HOUSE TO MAKE THEIR DREAM A REALITY

Leticia Skai Young & Raymond Z. Mohan

LoLo’s Seafood Shack, Harlem