Saving Your Restaurant Marriage

When partners meld personal and professional relationships, it’s almost impossible to avoid drama. This is certainly true for life partners that are also restaurant owners. With all the stress that comes with running a restaurant, how can a restaurant marriage survive?

Saving Your Restaurant Marriage

Getting the opportunity to build a business with your life partner can be rewarding, yet it can also be destructive when considering the health of your marriage. This unique working relationship comes with its fair share of struggles, but it isn’t impossible to navigate. Keep reading for five tips to help you save your restaurant marriage.

1. Start with the Most Difficult Decisions

Your business may be important, but you need to address your marriage before tackling any professional challenges. If either partner isn’t as invested in the marriage as the other, you have a bigger issue on your hands. However, if both partners are willing to address their marital problems, this will help you strengthen the marital bonds between each other.
By making the decision of whether to stay or go, both partners will be able to move forward professionally. In some cases, one partner may want to stay on with their business while the other hopes to go in a new direction. For other restaurant owners, both people may want to keep trying to work things out in their business, as well as their personal relationship. Either way, now is the time to figure everything out.

2. Create Boundaries at Work

Many partners that work together find that the professional dynamic is different than that of their personal relationship. Some owners find that their partner doesn’t respect their talents or responsibilities while others just find it difficult to work alongside one another every day. Instead of trying to find a balance by doing everything side by side, find a way to create boundaries that will allow both partners to put their own individual skills to use. The best working situation will allow each partner’s strengths to shine, while keeping the restaurant running like a well oiled machine.

3. Find the Work-Life Balance

Establishing a work-life balance is extremely important for two spouses that work together. For many couples, this means drawing a hard line between work and home. For other partners, their goal is to find a way to blend the two. Whatever working situation you choose, it should benefit both your marriage and your business.

As you aim to find balance for your work and home life, you must also bring balance to your marriage. Never put your restaurant at the center of your relationship, as this will become unhealthy. Just as you put time into working on your restaurant, make plans to build up your marriage. Schedule date nights, plan surprises for each other, and keep growing as a couple, the same way you would if you didn’t share a business together.

4. Leave Work Issues at Work

As you work to create the right balance in your professional and personal lives, you may be tempted to bring work home with you. While this is okay every once in a while, it will take a toll on your relationship if it becomes a habit. Any major work-related issues with your restaurant should be dealt with at work.

For example, if your restaurant is having financial problems, you can tackle those while you’re on the clock. Instead of bringing these anxieties into your relationship, try to find solutions like applying for small business loans during your working hours. This strategy will help you to strengthen your marriage, as well as solidify the success of your restaurant.

5. Never Take Advantage of Your Relationship

Regardless of how strong your marriage is, there will be moments where you become overwhelmed with the stress of running a business that you transfer these intense emotions onto your personal relationship. However, at work, you must treat your partner the same as you would another employee, Don’t hold them responsible for others’ mistakes and don’t take your anxieties out on them.

Navigating the complexities of running a restaurant with your partner is certainly a challenge. However, it’s certainly not impossible. Be sure to keep this guide in mind as you attempt to grow as a couple and as business owners.