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SEPTEMBER 2018
Business Focus
and nobody has done it before, or have
the travel industry perhaps decided it’s a
rubbish idea and therefore decided not
to address it? But it was a curiosity that
wouldn’t go away.” They had indeed hit
on something, and 12 years on Rob and
Wendy are creating their own branded
resorts across Europe and experiencing
revenue growth of 60 per cent.
In some situations it has been the
brainchild of one of the partners with the
other one joining later, often when the
business can sustain them both financially.
And some have sat down strategically
and thought through the business and
what they want to do right through to
the exit plan. There are often seminal
moments of change in some couples’ lives
that have motivated them to do this, too,
and trauma is an emerging theme that is
proving to be a drive.
LIVING THE 100-YEAR LIFE AND
ENJOYING IT
The linear life we once knew has changed
and people no longer have or even want
a job for life. Some people are choosing
portfolio careers as we are living longer,
with many retraining or taking time to think
about how they want to spend their time,
particularly as many of us will be working
much longer.
In running their businesses together,
couples are able to plan, have more
control and really enjoy what they do.
I met Nick Cooper and Jo Rees who
run Salt Media, now an established
creative marketing and publishing
agency specialising in hospitality, food,
travel and lifestyle. They also publish the
independent
Coffee Guide
series across
the UK, and the
Trencherman’s Guide
and
Food Magazine
, a thriving monthly
publication about food and drink in
the South West that holds the widest
readership in the region. They have just
celebrated their 15th birthday and Nick
tells us: “You’re taught that you go to
university, get a job, work your way up the
ladder, take out a huge mortgage only
to sell once you retire and move to Devon
for a quieter life. We just thought, why not
cut out the middle bit and move to Devon
and start our own business together?”
STRONGER TOGETHER
As I have interviewed couplepreneurs,
the trust, love, openness, honesty and
commitment that exists between them is
quite intoxicating to watch. Couples know
each other intimately, they know their
strengths and weaknesses and when asked
if they would have done this alone, there
is a unanimous view that they are stronger
together and share a passion to make a
great success of the business together. They
love what they do together and couldn’t
imagine doing it with anyone else. Wendy
from Tots to Travel tells us, “I wish I’d realised
this was my calling sooner than I did.”
Gordon Young and his wife Diane
(pictured above) have been working
together since 1996. They run The Drum,
the biggest marketing platform in Europe,
and are an information business bringing
people together and helping them find
each other through awards, websites,
magazines, webinars, conferences,
consultancy, membership products and
more. Gordon told me: “Living together
and working together is just so normal. I
don’t understand why everyone wouldn’t
do this.” Diane adds, “We used to do
different jobs and it was a big source of
irritation in our relationship. Gordon would
be working late, and I worked in the public
sector and was back around 5pm, waiting
for him to come home, wondering what
was taking him so long. But when I joined
the business we would be in the office until
late at night together and I understood
exactly why.”
Julie Chen and Chris Forbes met in 2014
and set up The Cheeky Panda in 2016. The
award-winning business manufactures
bamboo toilet paper, kitchen roll and
tissues, and Chris told us he wouldn’t have
done it with anyone else. “We are stronger
together, we pitch better together, we like
networking, we don’t argue and being a
couple has had a positive impact.”
SPENDING TIME TOGETHER WITH MORE
FLEXIBILITY AND CONTROL
As they create a life brand together,
couples tell me how they are no longer
having to snatch time together, with so
many saying how magical it feels and how
blessed they are. They are more in control of
their time and have more flexibility together.
Wendy from Tots to Travel endorses this,
adding, “I feel blessed that we work with
each other every day and that I have found
somebody who is prepared to be on a
slightly bonkers journey.”
What’s evident is how many
couplepreneurs have a better life/
work balance after they have set up a
business together compared to their life
before. Although for many it’s a work
in progress as the business can be all
encompassing and switching off totally
can be a challenge, they are achieving
greater happiness in designing their own
life brand.
Jo from Salt Media advises: “Have a
good plan, look at the downsides, be
prepared not to make much money at
first, but don’t be fearful – go for it. You’ll
never know what you can achieve unless
you try, and if you are working in an
industry that’s also your passion, it’s hugely
invigorating and also a lot of fun.”
“Living together and
working together
is just so normal.
I don’t understand
why everyone
wouldn’t do this”