You and Your Partner, Inc. by Miriam Hawley & Jeffrey McIntyre - Book review

You & Your Partner, Inc.

Entrepreneurial Couples Succeeding in Business, Life and Love

By: Miriam Hawley, Jeffrey McIntyre

Published: August 21, 2012
Format: Paperback, 184 pages
ISBN-10: 0615648975
ISBN-13: 978-0615648972
Publisher: Enlignment, Incorporated












"Over the course of our 30-year marriage, which included various careers for each of us, we were always in search of a more harmonious life, so we joined forces and started a business together", write CEO of Enignment®, Inc., Mariam Hawley; and President of Elignment®, Inc., Jeffrey McIntyre, in their enlightening and very insight filled book You & Your Partner, Inc.: Entrepreneurial Couples Succeeding in Business, Life and Love. The authors describe complexities and challenges for married couples in operating a successful business partnership, and share their real world proven techniques for achieving harmony in both the company and the marriage.

Miriam Hawley and Jeffrey McIntyre understand the desire for couples to start a business venture together. The authors took the entrepreneurial plunge, and achieved success and fulfillment in growing their dreams together. The authors also recognize that the married couples entering into their own businesses are very diverse in their ages, backgrounds, and business objectives. The authors point out that each couple faced many challenges and obstacles to overcome on their business and life journeys. The book provides a series of in depth interview with almost fifty couples who combined business with marriage, and found happiness and success both aspects of their lives.

Miriam Hawley and Jeffrey McIntyre (both in photo left) recognize that there are many reasons why couples want to start a business of their own. In each case, the couples shared a special vision of their company as an extension of their life partnership, as well as a going business concern. The authors define four main motivators for starting a couple oriented business. Those four motivators are as follows:

* The practical partnership
* The tradition behind your partnership
* The vision for your partnership
* The mission for your partnerships

The authors provide comprehensive interviews with almost fifty entrepreneurial couples who touch upon the following challenges and opportunities in creating their own successful businesses. The chapters and interviews include the following:

* Copreneurship: An exciting and productive model for the 21st century
* Defining the structure and objectives of your professional partnership
* Each partner contributes: A look at roles and boundaries
* Successfully incorporating your children and extended family
* Positive communication: Free to be fully self-expressed
* Work-life integration: Making time for self-care, play and more
* Soul support: Encouraging each other's talents and growth
* The joys and challenges of growing your business together

For me, the power of the book is how Mariam Hawley provide a complete examination of spousal business partnerships through a series of real world interviews. The authors share their own experiences, and provide their ideas for successful copreneurship. At the same time, they describe openly the challenges that couples face as they operate their own companies. The book is divided into a series of chapters that cover the various aspects of business partnerships. Each chapter includes a series of takeaways for readers to incorporate those concepts into their own businesses.

The key to each chapter are the in depth interviews with several couples who faced and not only overcame the obstacles, but transformed them into real positives for the company and their marriages. an added feature of the book is the list of resources, included as an appendix, for additional research into building a successful business; and for discovering even more information about the couples interviewed in the text.

I highly recommend the very hands on and personal experience based book You & Your Partner, Inc.: Entrepreneurial Couples Succeeding in Business, Life and Love by Miriam Hawley and Jeffrey McIntyre, to any married couples seeking to start, purchase, or expand a business successfully. This book will guide you and your life partner toward achieving your business goals while enriching and strengthening your life together.