Passionate about business? Committed enough to put your personal partnerships on hold? Well, when it comes to starting out in your own venture a new survey highlights that a back seat could be just the place for your private life.
One in ten UK small business owners are more passionate about their business than their significant other, according to a survey by YouGov. And those most likely to put business before partners? Male entrepreneurs and small business owners in London.
Cem Mustafa, co-founder of Muncho, an online lunch delivery business in London said: “Setting up my own business has changed my perspective on potential relationships, most of my energy and passion is now going into making my business a success and any future partner would have to be understanding and supportive of that.”
Are you prepared to give up a relationship or do you have a partner with the ability to understand the dedication needed to get a new business off the ground? If you don’t, you could be in for a rocky ride. Starting a business is an all-consuming project that will take up vast amounts of your time and will occupy most of your waking thoughts. Before you set out it is best to sit down with your significant other and explain exactly what it is going to be like so that they will not be shocked when ‘yet again’ you stay up working into the wee hours.
Work life balance is important, but it is simply not possible in the early days of being your own boss. One of the major advantages for an entrepreneur is having a partner who understands this. When you are getting a business off the ground you need to be prepared to eat, breathe and sleep it and the people closest to you will suffer this too however, it is important to remember that the reasons that most people enter into business alone is to benefit from more freedom in the long-run.
The YouGov survey found that passion for business went hand-in-hand with a desire to gain freedom and autonomy at work and these were the main motives that encouraged 65% of individuals to take the plunge and be their own boss. This makes that infamous line “I’m doing it for our future darling” ring all too true because the autonomous future that most people are working toward will enable them to spend more time with their families in the long-run. Whether it is a woman who wants to be able to work from home and bring up a baby or a father who wants to be able to work fewer hours so he can go to the school pantomime, keeping the goal in the forefront of your mind when working through the hard part is important.
So if you love business, having a partner who is prepared to take a back seat for a while might be just what you need in order to achieve the freedom that an open road in front of you will bring.
