Tag: business

I was 16 years old when my parents were approached by a group of people trying to raise capital in order to keep the Fahrenheit 451 bookstore in Laguna Beach, California open. They came to my parents for money because they hoped that, as former owners of the bookstore, my mom and dad might embrace the cause. I hoped the same and tried to talk them into it, but for slightly different reasons. The thought of owning a business was exhilarating. I could just imagine myself working the register and seeing the money flowing in.

In the late 1990’s, when hair stylist Mo Murphy met music industry executive Chris Strouth backstage at Edgefest, a live music festival in Somerset, Wisconsin she heard the screech of electric guitars and amplifier feedback—not wedding bells. Much to the surprise of both of them, not only would they one day get married, but eight years after saying "I do," they would become business partners in their own small business enterprise. The couple founded Miyagi: a Dojo for Beauty (http://dojoforbeauty.com), an Aveda concept salon in northeast Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"Somehow we’ve managed to open a business in the worst economy since Hoover," Strouth laughed, about Miyagi’s August 2008 opening. "We stress about money more than we ever did, but then again who’s not stressing? We’re learning to look at things differently than we once did."

After years of being a divorce lawyer and watching couples grow apart and divorce, I became frustrated watching couples lose their dreams of a permanent marriage due to their lack of basic skills that we should have learned in kindergarten. Over the last 35 years, the statistics remain the same: 50 percent of all marriages in the U.S. end in divorce. Many of these marriages are good people who have grown apart and look across the dining room table (if they even eat together) and do not recognize the person who sits in the other seat. How does this happen and what can we do about it?

Over the next number of months, we’re going to make some suggestions for avoiding my office and staying "hitched." Try these, and you may put me out of business!

Running a successful business is tough. Maintaining a successful marriage can also be tough. When you combine the two and run a business with your spouse, it can be even more challenging. Throw in a kid or two, add additional outside family members and you've got a situation that can be total nirvana or a complete mess.

Now let’s be honest, there are many issues here we could discuss. There are the wonderful things that work, the things that definitely don’t work and the things that can be done to make it work if it isn’t.