Now this is a loaded question; should a husband and wife work together in the business? Prior to going into some of the basic factors that go into that decision, I want to start off with the greatest issue. If you’re a small business with few other admin or management employees, you’re putting your business at risk should one of you become ill. If either of you are in the hospital for a month or so, there’s no one to keep things going while you’re bedside helping with the recovery.
Upon recovery, you’ll be faced with rejuvenating a business suffering from no ownership while you were out. Plus, you have a severe illness to overcome. This situation adds insult to injury and makes the business and personal recovery unsurmountable. If you’re in your twenties, you can survive and struggle through it. If you’re in your fifties, there’s less time to recover and the odds increase with age that one of you will experience a serious illness. My wife was extremely ill last year, spending 30 days in the hospital on two different occasions. She’s better now and I was fortunate to have a great staff who filled in for me. None of us are immortal and there needs to be a backup plan.