Right now my husband Sam is a full time Spanish teacher and then shoots and works with me on the weekends and after school. God is really blessing our business and we love working together. We are quite opposite so generally what ever work he hates doing I like and vice versa. We are hoping to make the transition to him teaching part time (to keep his benefits) and althought there will be a little padding it still feels pretty risky.

For those of you who have gone through these decisions before, what is your advice? What should we be doing now to get things in place for this transition? How can I as a wife and mother of a 9 month old get the business in the shape it will need to be with out killing myself? Any advice or wisdom would be great. THanks, Ashley & Sam

I am glad that God has been blessing you in so many ways. I would say that a tight run organization system is in place. Especially once he goes part time. You each need to know where the other one left off at all times. Phone logs, lab orders, shipping, design work, etc. I like to come into the office and know I can pick up where my wife left off, or talk to a client that she has talked to about something. Both my wife and I have definitly, and naturally assumed our roles in the business. It just kind of fell in place of what our roles, strengths and weaknesses are. Getting a system down was key for us. We both work out of our house, with a 2 and 4 year old, which was crazy this year. We did 52 weddings, a little too much, alot of late nights, but our workflow of the business is what made it go extremely well.
Good progams to have is ACT software, which logs clients, phone calls, vendors that you have worked with, calender, etc. Good luck

I'm interested in hearing more as well. Chris and I are doing this together. And while he's still working his full time job, we hope in the future that won't need to be the case, and I'd love some knowledge on this subject to keep tucked in the back of my mind for when the time comes!

this is a super cool topic, i look forward to hearing responses, i always thought a hubby+wifey team would be awesome!

<3 kristy

Ashley - it was like I wrote this topic myself! My husband and I are complete opposites (I'm more the creative mind while he's the business mind.) He's a full time teacher and basketball coach and we have an almost 2 year old son and another one due in April. Crazy! Anyway, my husband is planning to only teach half time next year too!
The biggest comfort about having my husband go part time is he can always sub, if the money is tight!!!
Right now, though, I'm feeling the pressure like you are - I guess I'm just trying to get my name out there as much as possible...Anne Ruthman posted an awesome topic with marketing ideas, if you're a wedding photographer. I'm taking a few of her suggestions and taking a few ideas of my own and am implementing them ASAP - so by the time my husband is only teaching half time, we will hopefully be working with more of the right clients.
Also, take advantage of your summers!!! When you're husband's off, that's time to figure out the flow of what he can handle and what you can - it's so nice to have them help share the load...it will take a lot of pressure off of you!
Finally - take advantage of your husband's connections being a teacher! This was the BIGGEST benefit to my business so far. My husband is like a walking billboard for our business - he knows so many members of the community though his teaching and coaching business and this has really helped our business grow.
I wish you two luck! I'm sure everything will be great!
Sam

My wife Lovina and I have been in business together for about 5 years now and married for 3.5. I guess we are a little opposite but we do have the same vision. She does ALL administration, as I don't even know how to count to three. She also shoots like a maniac. She's one of the best photographers I've ever seen. I think we learned all this stuff from our parents. My Dad is a photographer and my Mom works with him, althouigh she isn't a photographer, just admin. And Lovina 's parents work together in retail as well. Whats great is that she is awsome with the business stuff, and I, being a photographer am ok en ough to take some pictures, and being the leo will talk about us for hours in a consultation. So I do the selling I guess.
we have a 7 month old, Molly , who is our newest insperation, and who is sitting with me right now. Its real hard and we've had to hire some others to help out,but it works. Lovina still shoots, we got her an office at home. And we of course still maintain our studio in downtown red bank, nj. You work real hard, be sensitive to each others needs and it works out ok

There is no motivator in the world like having a family to feed. My advice is to make sure you have a good padding in savings before making big moves. At least 6 months worth of expenses would be good. You can also have a retirement account or something like that as a backup. This way, you are more prepared for unexpected surprises while you are getting started.

As far as working with your spouse, always have clearly defined territory. The business is my baby, so my wife will question what I am doing, why I'm doing things the way that I am, give her opinion, but leave the final decisions to me. This way the business does not affect our love life except in positive ways (we get to spend lots of time together, enjoy each other's company, and have flexible schedules to spend time with the kids). This is not to say that I'm the boss and she bows down before my will; she is my equal partner in all things, but I let her make the final decisions with all things kids and family, and she lets me with the business. It works exceptionally well for us.

Here is my incredible wife. She is beautiful, loving, a fantastic mother, very supportive, intelligent, practical (which I am not always), and an absolute blast to be married to.

This image was taken in 1993 when she was 19 and we were engaged. It was taken with a 4x5 camera with two studio flashes with spot grids.

I want a business partner I can sleep with.

Hi Ashley (and Sam!)

This is such a fun, important topic. Since our studio (LaCour) is comprised of two married couples, we are constantly learning about how to balance life & work.

At LaCour, we refer to our husband-wife teams as "Copreneurship!"

I have been spending a lot of time researching this topic.

"While entrepreneurship is often characterized as a lonely calling pursued by determined individuals, one employment trend has found couples starting their own businesses and partnering in self-employment ventures. Dubbed "copreneurship," this phenomenon been called "'the fastest growing segment of family-based business'" (Marshall, 1999, p. 9). Lucaccini and Muscat (2001) attribute the increasing interest in copreneurship arrangements to "corporate down-sizing, a return to pre-industrial values regarding family life, a belief in the equality of the sexes, and a desire for greater control of one's own life" (p. 9). The most visible and most researched category of copreneurs is the husband-and-wife team, which is the focus of the studies discussed in this digest."

There is a great book about this topic that I recommend you purchase:

Entrepreneurial Couples: Making It Work at Work and at Home

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089...6140523-9336866

Working with your spouse is such a blessing, and I love having the opportunity to share my work and life with my husband. I think organization is one of the keys to thriving as married business partners. You must learn to establish clear roles and responsibilities, and then delegate tasks to each other!

Best to you both,

Rachel

Chris and I are going through this transition right now, as I am planning to fully quit my job in June it looks like. Like others have said, we are total opposites in our strengths (I am the organizer and he is the visionary) and so we don't feel the need to be "competing" for the different work that goes into the business. When I quit, we will have a little over 6 months worth of income saved aside from our usual savings (based on my salary that I make now). This is helping us feel more comfortable, but it is still always scary! One thing that we have found incredible helpful is to have a list of goals, organized into a couple different categories (organizational, financial, different projects we want to work on, etc) and take time to go through all those goals and figure out who can do what to help us reach them. This way, it's clear what each of roles are in the day to day operations, if we know what our goals are. We also have a time once a week (even though I still am working right now) that we sit down and have our "meeting" and assess how we've done for the week and make a plan for the next week. Since I'm more of the organizer, I take a little time each week to look through some of our short and long term goals, and then just have a bit of an outline for when we meet. I think getting in this habit of having a "formal" (haha, in our sweatpants!) meeting has been one of the most productive change we've made because its really given us benchmarks for seeing where we are, but even more than that, showed us how we each can be preparing for when I quit fulltime. We want to be as prepared as we can with knowing what each of our "job descriptions" are so that when the time comes, the transition can be as smooth as possible. Corey mentioned also that he was the one who made the "final" decisions, and I see this idea working with Chris and I as well-we make decisions together, and Chris always wants my input, but at the end of the day if there really is something we don't see eye to eye to, Chris will make the decision. Even though this is a hard topic to talk about, I think it is important to have this as clearly defined territory so that when the time comes-as it inevitably will- you will both be on the same page.
Hope these suggestions might be a little helpful if they're something you aren't already doing

Ashley, you asked specifically about transitioning your husband into the business. I can relate directly to this. When my husband (then boyfriend) Mark decided to move to Atlanta to start his own business in 2003, I was still working for a newspaper full-time in SC. After a year, I joined him in Atlanta with the plan to find a newspaper job while he ran his wedding photography business. So I started out with small tasks such as helping him edit, while I was looking for a job. But after a few months we started getting so much business that I never had to find a newspaper job.

I guess what I'm saying is blend him in gradually, with him still having a part-time job as financial security for you. But continue to monitor the progress of your wedding numbers (financial). When you feel that you've reached a point where you have a steady-enough business (and enough financial padding through savings) to let him drop his other job, just do it and plow forward with confidence. You will know you're at that point when you have more work than you can handle on your own, without more help from Sam.

You also might check some local colleges/universities to see whether there are students looking to do a free internship. That could provide some major help as you transition your husband into the business. Best wishes to you!

All these replies are great. We too are in this same situation. We are saving and weaning ourselves from his income...so as not to depend on it at all once he is ready to quit.

Be encouraged that many couples have done accomplished this goal and it is attainable.

Thanks everyone. I will have Sam read this as well. He is such a great support and help but I know he is running himself ragged being pulled in so many directions. I think the 6 months padding is a good idea. We are hoping to do a ton of senior pictures this summer and use all of that extra income as savings. I think our biggest weakness is in the organization/workflow area. Right now I am kind of the only one that knows what is going on at all times and it would help us both out a ton if he could just pick up where I left off. I will check into that ACT software, it looks like something I could definitely use.

-Ashley

I don't have any advice, really, except that my husband and I learned it is best to NOT work together as a photography team. He does however provide excellent computer tech support, and he gets some nice benefits on the side

He doesn't like to shoot, but he sure likes to edit!

Where do I send my resume?

Oh, yeah Choli, I guess I already have a partner so I'm not eligible. Darn!

Ashley are you going to WPPI? This is funny that is the exact name of our master-class that we are doig. "Sleeping with your business partner"

Julia and I have been married for 16 years and have four young children (which we home school). We have been doing our buiness together for 12 years. I would not change a thing. The key is communication and letting the other grow as an artist and not limiting them to exceed thier potential.

Email us anytime if we can help.

Jeffrey Woods

Ashley,

I think that all that is to be said, has been said...

Working with Nathan is the joy of my life! I can't imagine a better place to be in, then spending my entire life with someone I love! And sharing a passion!

Can I get an aaaaaaaaaaaamen on that one girl! I'm reading all this going, you all are so lucky to have that. It is what I like to call the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for me that is.... Amber so knows this! What I want to know is how the heck to find one!!!! All I gotta say is there is only one thing sexier than a man with a camera and I can't say it on here! Hee,hee,haa,haa!

I have to agree. Other than getting approval to adopt our girls, finding out that Crystal wants to join me in my photo business has me more excited than pretty much anything else in my life has for a very long time.

Fortunately, her camera is coming today so we don't have to juggle them!

Woohoo!!!!! SO EXCITED!

AWESOME!!!! Best thing we did was have me upgrade so Chris got my camera! it's been so nice the last few weeks not having to juggle the camera! ENJOY!

Of course, it is our first digital body. So now I'm going to be the one trying to steal her camera instead of the other way around!

(Hehe. I've been wanting to use that smiley! )