Working with your partner - the ups & downs

Josie Bicknelle - Mar 15 2023

Working with your partner - the ups & downs

A night with friends - Jan 28 2023

As some of you may know, Rob and I have been running our small business together for around two years now, and I thought it might be interesting to let you in a little on the experience of working full time with your partner.

Let’s start with the positives!

The number one thing has always been that I get to work with my best friend.

It’s an office that’s so often filled with joy and laughter, and the occasional bit of flirting here and there. Business strategy meetings are now daily coffee dates, and the half an hour monday morning commute is now an excuse to sing along to the radio together in the car.

Having lived and worked together for a very long time now, Rob and I know eachother inside and out. I can tell when he’s feeling stressed about the TikTok that he’s trying to make that day, and know the right words to say to keep him motivated. He knows when I’m getting agitated with whatever website design I’m working on, and will whisk me away to the shop to buy some sort of buttery pastry.

We work incredibly well together as a team - he leads with his heart, I lead with my head. He’s glass half full where I’m glass half empty. We push and motivate each other to help the business bloom and grow, and feel fulfilled within our own separate job roles.

Of course, working and living together can come with its own unique challenges.

99% of the time, we’re very good at keeping work-life and home-life separate. However, when you’ve been bickering all morning over who’s turn it is to do the washing up, something like that can bleed into an office environment no matter how hard you try to squash it. If Rob has been a pain in the arse all morning, leaving his clothes all over the bedroom floor, of course it’s going to annoy me when his desk at work is equally as filthy.

The other issue - we're with each other all the time. We wake up together, eat breakfast together, drive to work together, sit in the same office together, drive home together, and go to sleep together. It can certainly take away the element of ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder’.

We’ve had to become insanely adept at communication.

One of our most used phrases is, ‘I need alone time’, or the one I often use, ‘I’m going to have a Josie evening’. It’s a way to easily signal to each other, ‘I love you, and I love spending quality time with you, but by spending a couple of hours away from you I’m going to look forward to hanging out with you even more.’

The crux of the matter is that we truly are a great pair.

Josie's birthday in Windermere - Jul 27 2022

I’m not sure that I can think of anyone else who I would be able to spend this much time with, and still look forward to seeing their face every morning when I wake up.

I would say that if you’re thinking of starting up a small business with somebody, whether it’s a friend, a family member or your partner, make sure that you’re both able to communicate with one another.

Entering into a small business comes with a lot of stress, and volatility, and uncertainty, and I guarantee you that there will be conflicts and bickering along the way. I think that as long as you’re able to talk to each other about how you’re feeling throughout that process, then you’re golden.

Every day I find myself feeling ridiculously grateful that this is my job, and that I have the chance to share it with my best friend. Thank you all for showing your continued support for Hoadys, it means the world to us both.