Customer Reviews

Honey, I Want to Start My Own Business: A Planning Guide for Couples

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a perfect book to read and complete the surveys together with your significant other. I read this book in one sitting and can't wait to get started going through the surveys with my husband and seeing where we differ in our ideas and where we have the same ideas, and spend more time on sitting down and communicating together.

As most of your know with the busy schedules of work, home, kids, etc. it is hard to set time aside for yourself. The author gives you great insight into working on your own relationship also, and also provides follow up books if you want more knowledge about a certain area.

I would highly recommend this book to any couple working together or thinking of working together.

This review originally appeared on the Boardroom Couple blog as reviewed by my husband:

Honey, I Want to Start My Own Business is another good book to read if you are planning to work with your spouse. I felt that the author - Azriela Jaffe geared this book primarily towards couples who are still in the planning phases (as the title even suggests), but those already working together will find some good take aways also.

Overall, the book has a lot of good information, but it's presented in a rather broad fashion and if you are already working with your spouse a lot of the information in this book might not apply to you.

Each chapter is complemented with self assessments, so you can really get involved and work through the issues in your particular situation. But at times working through this book, Julie and I felt like it falls into paralysis by analysis. That is, it has so much information that it's more like a doctorate dissertation rather than a friendly guide. The assessments are all good but obviously most are not going to apply to your situation. For example if you are a `dual entrepreneur' couple, you are not going to find the assessment test for `supportive spouses' very useful. Or, if you are still in the planning phases of the business, you might not be that enthusiastic about reading chapter eight - `This Isn't What I Bargained For'. On the other hand though, being aware of certain pitfalls is beneficial, because you can quickly correct these flaws in your marriage and business relationship if you find yourself moving towards that direction.

All Chapter Titles

Part 1: Creating a Family Plan

Exploring Self-Employment Alternatives: Considering Family Issues
Combining Marriage and Entrepreneurship: Three Models of Joining Together on the Entrepreneurial Journey
Financial and Family Planning: Planning Ahead to Avoid Disaster
The Joys and Challenges of Working at Home: How Working at Home Can Work - and When It Can't

Part 2: Sustaining a Thriving Marriage

Communication Skills: Understanding Your Partner and Getting Your Point Across
Win/Win Conflict Resolution: Resolving Conflict at Work and at Home
Keeping the Romance Alive: Creative Ways to Protect and Nurture the Intimacy of Your Relationship
This Isn't What I Bargained For: Coping with Hard Times and Coming Out Stronger

One chapter I highly recommend in this book is chapter 7 - Keeping the Romance Alive: Creative Ways to Protect and Nurture the Intimacy of Your Relationship. This applies no matter where in you entrepreneurial couple relationship you are in and the author does a great job explaining what is a romantic marriage and then offers great tips on how to develop a romantic marriage. Her list of `Romantic Gifts that Don't Cost Money` is well worth it.

My recommendation for this book would be to first read the full book without doing any of the self assessments, while reading mark the ones of interest to you. Then complete the assessments at the end.