Being the wife of an entrepreneur brings with it a whole bunch of challenges. I regularly hear comments like “why are you always doing things alone”, “can’t Mr M join us for a meal”, “is Mr M seriously working all weekend”, “does Mr M ever not work?” and so much more!

People love to fantasize about the freedom of running their own business & the financial payoff. Successful entrepreneurs achieve this thanks to their drive & determination. Society is often envious of an entrepreneurs spouse’s ‘stay at home wife-life’, but they forget that it comes with big challenges & sacrifices.

Being an entrepreneur is hard, being the spouse to one of these workaholics is also tough. I’ve put together a list of my top tips for being the best spouse you can be to an entrepreneur.

Being the wife of an entrepreneur; my top tips

1. Never say “why are you working so much”?

I have done this plenty of times, not in these exact words, but they have the same effect. It only gets up Mr M’s nose and he gets irritated. The buck stops with him; if something isn’t done correctly or work is not delivered on time the client will not care that a staff member didn’t finish, he’ll just want it done as promised.

What we’re starting to implement is a more structured daily plan, and yes that includes weekends. Knowing when you have family time means that the time is constructive & meaningful to all. We get the best out of the time.

2. Create more balance

I love people. I love spending time with my girlfriends, they fill up my cup and it’s the way I enjoy relaxing & recharging my batteries. I also love being at home without the kids & spending quality time with Mr M. Mr M on the other hand prefers to recharge his batteries and unwind at home. Either as a family, alone or with me. He enjoys socialising but he doesn’t enjoy having mindless conversations about nothing in particular. I love it! (He’s the ying to my yang).

“Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Weekends are now structured so that Sunday’s are family / relax / recharge days. Saturday’s are for seeing friends & socialising. We used to often butt heads about seeing people on weekends, with this structure we now both know what to expect.

However, weekends are just another 2 days when an entrepreneur can work with fewer interruptions from staff, etc. It’s not a time to relax as a family, catch up with friends and have a few glasses of wine. Time for that is limited and needs to be planned in advance.

3. Learn to communicate better

When I’m talking, I take the scenic route. I’ll take a while to get to the point. Mr M goes straight to the point, no waffling! During the day, Mr M is on a need to know basis. I don’t bother him with my idle chit-chat about anything. Evenings are more flexible and I can catch him up on anything he needs to know.

We also communicate differently from what you’d expect. I send lots of Skype messages through the day; we rarely actually talk much during working hours. I also let him know about tasks & appointments via Skype.

4. Family time

As an entrepreneur it’s almost impossible to completely switch off & be unavailable for an extended period of time. However, a few hours are not too much of a crisis if planned for.

Mr M and I have started to implement a no-phone rule during our dedicated family times during the week & on weekends. It means that we are not distracted and can give the kids our full attention. We literally don’t even have them in the same room as us so that we can focus on engaging fully with Tristan & Grayson.

5. Never say “aren’t customers hard to find in this economic climate?”

Entrepreneurs are not pessimists; successful entrepreneurs don’t tolerate it. Negative comments like this will just get Mr M’s back up and he will be less inclined to discuss business matters with me.

Successful entrepreneurs look for solutions, a problem is merely a minor bump that needs to be overcome as quickly & as efficiently as possible.

As the spouse to an entrepreneur you need to support them so that they can achieve the best they can and having a positive mindset will do so much to help them achieve this.

What (s)he said

So, if you’re reading this and are not the wife/partner to an entrepreneur, please be mindful of what you say to someone who might be the wife to an entrepreneur. Pressure from friends doesn’t help; we are doing the best we can to support our family.

If you’re the wife of an entrepreneur I hope this has helped.

Much love xxx