Ep. 59 - Is Your Business the Mistress?

We often think of a mistress as that other woman. The reason behind the wife’s husband coming home late every night, leaving on surprise business trips, late-night phone calls or texts, unexplained credit card charges. The reason your husband is there physically but not there mentally or emotionally. 

Oh, I’m sorry. I was talking about the business. Do these scenarios sound common to you? If so, then it probably isn’t another woman but the business that is the mistress. And this can apply to both men and women owners in which the business takes over your life so much that it interferes with your marriage. 

In fact, one of the definitions of a “mistress” is “a woman in a position of authority and control.” Replace the word “woman” with “business” and you now know who to blame for interfering with your marriage. 

Now, unlike a real-life mistress, we don’t want you to call it off and stop running the business. We just want you to take back control so it’s not controlling you. With some planning and foresight, every business owner can put the right set of boundaries, systems and processes in place so that the business can thrive without the owner sacrificing their marriage. 

The sacrifice should be on how much you give to the business and not the marriage. 

Your spouse will thank you for it, you’ll see arguments dissipate and intimacy go to another level. Yes, running a better and more efficient business will actually have benefits in the bedroom too. Do we have your attention, tune in.

Key Takeaways:

• Our story
• Can’t compartmentalize business and marriage. It all spills over
• It’s the income, you “have” to respond to the needs of the business
• Customers are happy but what about the family?
• 76% of business owners wish they could spend less time in the business
• What’s keeping them stuck
• Lack of boundaries
• Trying to do too much 
• Do fewer things really well
• Need to learn to say “no”
• Invest the time to hire and train well
• Solicit feedback from your spouse/family
• Set aside non-negotiable time with spouse and family - go for quality not necessarily quantity
• Turn off the phone and computer and be present with your spouse
• Weekly meetings