These couples show how to navigate the ups and downs of going into business with your spouse

THIS could be everyone’s dream. Working with someone you love, at the hours you want and often from home. So how do these inspiring young couples make it happen?

‘We were tired of working for others’

THEY’RE the two great challenges in life: the professional and the personal.

For most people, the two rarely overlap, but for those who go into business with their spouse, the different worlds are inextricably linked.

The phrase “work-life balance” is commonplace these days but for these couples, the lines can be a little blurry. The arrangement has advantages, but there can be challenges too.

Here are some tips from uniquely successful couples who have teamed up in business.

Janelle and Adam Marr — Step beyond Business Advisors

Flexibility is the key to Janelle and Adams business partnership.

Janelle Marr and husband Adam run a successful Perth-based consulting firm, Step Beyond, and won the 2013 Telstra Western Australian Micro Business Award.

The launch of the business in October 2007 coincided with Janelle’s exit from Ernst & Young after maternity leave and the birth of her first child.

Despite having worked with her husband in the past, Janelle admits there was some trepidation in entering into business as a married couple, and there will always be “lots of challenges”.

“We had a few people in our network that were sceptical about our clients wanting a husband and wife team,” she said.

But Janelle believes it has become one of their strongest attributes in business and says customers “like knowing that they get the both of us” when hiring the firm.

The couple have two girls aged four and eight, which can lead to a frantic home life, but Janelle says she and Adam share the load of domestic chores. “Cooking, cleaning, washing … Every job is everybody’s,” she says. “We operate along non-gender lines.”

“We’ve been able to have a complete partnership, we split everything down the middle.”

The dichotomy in skillset allows them to play to their strengths as Adam handles the IT-related side of the business while Janelle often focuses on service delivery. “It’s about supporting each other,” she says.

Incredible year. Thrilled to be Finalist WA Telstra Business Women's Awards. Congrats winner Donna McColl Happy Feet pic.twitter.com/N9AJ0yL0Op

— Janelle (@Janelle_Marr) September 27, 2013

When it comes to the kids, they “tag-team” all their activities. “Whether it’s dancing, gymnastics, swimming … It depends who’s got the kids on the day and who is in the office,” she says.

Their arrangement hinges on flexibility. While they both work full-time hours, they tend to work unconventional, sometimes opposite hours, so that one can stay at home with the kids.

“We knew from the beginning that we wanted to spend time with our children while they were young,” she says.

The key to their success is maintaining designated time away from work. Every Sunday they have “family time” with the girls, and Janelle and Adam have a “date night” once a week.

On these occasions, there is strictly no work-related talk, “just us”, says Janelle.

They also feel it’s important to get away “about every seven years … to rejuvenate and look at the business a different way.” Last year, the couple took the kids on a nine-week adventure travelling around Australia.

Ted Tolfree and Shey Newitt — Crisp Creative Salad

Shey Newitt and Ted Tolfree husband and wife owners of Crisp Creative Salad

Ted and Shey came from an economics and business background respectively before deciding to pour their life savings into starting their own company, opening a salad store in Melbourne.

The couple had spent time living in New York, and upon moving to the Victorian capital, felt the city didn’t offer the range of healthy eating options they had previously enjoyed in the Big Apple. So they decided to fill the gap in the market.

“We didn’t have a food background but two years later, we’ve got three shops,” says Ted.

He has dedicated himself entirely to the business and is responsible for the hands-on operations of the stores. Shey still holds her full-time job at KPMG and works on the business in the evenings and on the weekends.

Like Janelle and Adam, the pair play to their individual strengths. “I’m a numbers man,” says Adam. “I’m in my comfort zone when I’m doing XL spreadsheets, she takes the creative side of the business. She manages the blog, social media and marketing. Anything financial or technical, that’s my world.”

The couple have a three-year-old girl and an 18-month-old baby boy, both of whom can be heard clamouring for dad’s attention while he talks to news.com.au. “A lot of people we speak to say they want to do a similar thing but are concerned that having kids will get in the way.”

But Ted believes you just have to commit. “There’s no right time, you just got to grab your board and do it.”

Understandably, there will be disagreements and working with your loved-one means that no one is likely to pull any punches.

“Our biggest argument we’ve had was in Officeworks over what filing cabinet was going to look good for the home office.” Ted says. “We had quite a flare-up in the middle of Officeworks and in the end she walked away with the filing cabinet she wanted … But I think it was good to get that one out of the way early.”

Ted believes it’s important for people to know what they’re getting themselves into when starting their own business and stresses that it can be a “very lonely” undertaking. He says he underestimated how much he would miss his co-workers and bosses keeping him motivated and incentivised.

“People always want to start a small business to get rid of their boss. Then when you do it, you realise how much your boss does for you,” he says.

Despite this, teaming up with your partner can be an invaluable support mechanism. Having them alongside you to talk about everything can be “a great asset”, he says. “Using the strength in the relationship to build the business is really important.”

Ted and Shey are certainly reaping the benefit of their shared attributes. In 2014, Crisp Creative Salad was named Victorian Start-Up of the year in the Telstra Business Awards. The couple later appeared on Channel Ten’s Shark Tank to promote their salad brand and received a warm reception from the judges.

I thought that went well! @sharktankau pic.twitter.com/blKHxbTrwx

— crisp (@crispsalad) April 26, 2015

Jan and Mike Becker — Becker Helicopters Services

Jan and Mike have grown used to unpredictability.

Jan and Mike Becker started their business, Becker Helicopters in 1996, on the day their second child was born. While at a business fair to launch their company, Jan went into labour. “We didn’t know we were going to have a baby that day,” she says.

That unpredictability is something they have grown accustomed to as external events such as the bankruptcy of Ansett Australia, 9/11 and bird flu dramatically affected the business.

The couple started off with one helicopter and within a decade, grew to a fleet of ten. They now have 70 staff and 30 contractors. “It’s not without its dramas” Jan admits.

As for the challenge of starting up a business with two newborns, she says there is never a good time — “you can take that as your reason or your excuse.”

When their girls, now 18 and 19, were at school, Jan would begin her work day after dropping them off and would break momentarily in the afternoon to collect them.

“We poured everything into the business,” she says, and the pair would get stuck back into the work after putting the kids to bed. “We were very disciplined.”

Becker Helicopter Services won the Telstra Australian Medium Business Award in 2013.

Before starting the business, Mike was a helicopter pilot and Jan was a midwife and registered nurse. “We were tired of working for other people,” Jan says. “It’s so energising to be a part of something you’ve created.”

This guy, am I right? Jan and Mike accept their Telstra business award.

As for the key to their success, it’s about knowing each other’s roles and trusting in them wholeheartedly. “A lot of couples poke their noses into each other’s business,” says Jan. “There is a freedom in being able to do your part knowing the other person is also doing their part with no hidden agendas or angles.

“We delineate our roles quite significantly.” Jan looks after the finances and marketing while Mike typically takes care of the technical side such as fleet management and training.

Again, trust is the crucial ingredient. “We have to be very quick to forgive if the other has stuffed up. Holding grudges on bad decisions is not productive.”

While Jan says the children are at an age now where “they come and go”, maintaining a quality family life is paramount to the success of their business.

The couple tend to stay at home when they can and don’t attend social or networking events they don’t consider to be absolutely crucial. They take any time they can to work on the relationship.

“Success in one and failure in the other is not success,” Jan says. “I believe if you lose yourself along the way, your own relationship, then you have failed.”

News Corp Australia is official media partner for the Telstra Business and Telstra Women’s Business Awards. To nominate a business for the 2016 ​Awards go to telstrabusinesawards.com​. Nominations for the Telstra Women’s Business Awards open May 11 at telstrabusinesswomensawards.com.