"There's a lot of evidence that fast-growing technology companies perform better when they're led by someone with a technology background, so that was a reason for me being the CEO," says Grant.
"There are also aspects around public speaking, publicity and other sales interactions that are better suited to my personality. Merryn has renowned organisational skills, so having her drive our platform and people as we've grown I think has certainly been a key part of why we've been successful," he says.
That opportunity to marry complementary skills and strengths is one of the main reasons cited by the couples I've interviewed this week about why they went in to business together. And allowing each other to do what they do best - and respecting them for that - seems to be a key to ongoing success.
Dona and Gavin White are the couple behind North Port Events, an exhibition company that runs consumer and trade shows, including The Food Show, Baby Show, Fine Food New Zealand and Facilities Integrate.
Dona's role is focused mainly on the strategic growth of the company, while Gavin is more involved in the operations and logistics of running the shows.
"I love Gavin's calm, steady approach and business mind. He's a trained lawyer and understands business protocol more than I do. I can be very fast to make decisions and Gavin will help me pause and consider things more thoroughly before I jump," says Dona.
Dona, on the other hand "has a very strong and innate intuitive mind and sees things, including opportunities, before others do. She's enthusiastic, positive and motivating to the whole team, and is completely passionate about the business", says Gavin.
Some of the couples spoke about the blurred line between work and home life that comes with running a business together - and that it could be both an advantage, and a disadvantage at times.
To create a clearer delineation, Jenny and Peter Smith, the husband and wife owners of online grocer Foodbox, have a rule of 'no talking about work at home'.
"In the early days after a 16-hour day this was easy because we were never at home," says Jenny. "When you are relaxed at home you often get great inspiration, so obviously work does come up and it can be fun to talk about, but we have a bit of an unspoken rule that the first person to 'call it quits' means the conversation ends. Then there's always silence for one or two minutes while we desperately think of something else to talk about!"
For others, such as Jackie and Ben Ashley of home fragrance brand Ashley & Co, they haven't felt the need to set rules around the work/home divide.
"Being able to work around our own schedules and family commitments gives us flexibility. Although work does definitely encroach on our home life, we love the fact we're not stuck in a formal nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday lifestyle. Often just the process of going about our daily lives together results in informal brainstorming and idea generation," says Jackie.
Husband and wife Chand and Sid Sahrawat own two Auckland-based restaurants - Sidart, which opened in 2009, and Cassia, which has been open for nine months. In the early days of Sidart, Chand kept her full-time job as an English teacher. However after the couple had their daughter, Chand found the demands of her teaching job, as well as being a parent and a business partner too great, so since 2013 she's worked more in the business.
Chand says working more closely together has given her a greater understanding of the toil involved in the hospitality business.
"When he [Sid] says he works hard he really does work hard," she says. "I saw a restaurant from a customer's perspective before, and it wasn't until I was fully immersed in the role that I saw the work required behind the scenes to create a great customer experience."
For Sid, he's gained a similar appreciation for his wife's input: "Likewise, besides the food and service, there's a lot of back house admin to organise in businesses like these, which Chand makes look seamless. It's definitely not my strength, but with Chand there it makes it a lot easier to dot the i's and cross the t's."
Merryn and Grant Straker, Straker Translations
Merryn and Grant Straker are the founders of Straker Translations, a cloud-enabled translation company that translates content into and out of more than 100 languages. The firm has two main production centres - one in Barcelona and one in Auckland - with sales offices around the world and a total of 50 staff.
Can you tell me how and why you decided to work together in the business?
Grant: We got into business just as we started seeing each other. It was 1999 and I wanted to leave my job and set up my own technology company with me as the only employee.
Merryn: After Grant was working for a few months he had picked up two team members, which led to challenges around managing the client projects. Also, accounting at that time was not his core strength! So I took on the accounting function as well as client project management.
How have your respective roles in the company changed over time?
Grant: Originally I was the chief technology officer and Merryn was the CEO, but as the company has grown and employed a technology team then I moved into the CEO role and Merryn into the chief operating officer role. There's a lot of evidence that fast-growing technology companies perform better when they're led by someone with a technology background, so that was a reason for me being the CEO.
There are also aspects around public speaking, publicity and other sales interactions that are better suited to my personality. Merryn has renowned organisational skills, so having her drive our platform and people as we've grown I think has certainly been a key part of why we've been successful.
Merryn: Correct - my husband stole my job! But I'm much more suited to shaping the systems and processes across our entire offering and as the COO I'm the conduit to keeping the production, technology, finance and sales teams functioning at a higher level. Ultimately, I think the benefits of working in a high-pressure and fast-paced company as a couple only come if you have complementary skills.
What are some of the other benefits of running a business as a couple?
Grant: It's a doubled-edged sword. On the upside you spend lots of time together and on the downside you spend lots of time together. It does mean we can do business trips together and also take our family on some of these. Two years ago when we set up our Barcelona office we were able to take our kids with us to Europe for a few weeks and then do a cruise around the Mediterranean.
Another benefit is being able to talk through business issues at any time of the day or night, which has been useful in a fast-growing business. It's also really easy for us to bounce ideas off each other, although strangely enough we often disagree on business strategy and ideas. This has been really healthy for the business as neither one of us just goes along with the other.
Merryn: I think there are a lot of benefits if you can get some balance in your life. We get to work around what we do to attend our kids' school events where we can. Sometimes our world is exceptionally crazy, but we're both living that problem so we can work together to alleviate pressure in some areas. Some of our best thinking and discussions happen on the way to and from work and that allows us some planning time without interruptions.
Another benefit is that when we exceed sales targets or sign an ongoing client that's a win for both of us and one we both understand. Our team will also use one or the other to sway an advantage if they're not getting responses in a timely way, or think that one of us might be able to convince the other. It doesn't necessarily work but they give it a try!
You mentioned working together can be a double-edged sword. What are some of the difficulties?
Grant: The single biggest challenge is balancing work and family life. Our main strategy has been to take our kids on work trips and to make sure they don't miss out on anything; with three kids we have constant sports and other events going on so we make sure they get to enjoy these. There are some financial rewards that come with owning a successful company and this give us a little more freedom than most to balance our family life. Although at the same time there have been times where we've had everything on the line - including our house - and it's not so much fun.
Merryn: We do not and will not always agree! We'll both fiercely defend our position at times but we do compromise when we need to and at the end of the day we're both committed to growing a New Zealand-based $100 million turnover company and we need to do that together.
I find the overseas travel can be really hard; I miss my kids - and sometimes my husband! Grant and I don't usually travel together so the kids have one of us at home, so the biggest challenge for me is making sure we spend quality time together as a family. I try to make my work trips as fast as I can and I've also been incredibly supported by our nanny Kara. One of our sons has special needs and without Kara's assistance it wouldn't have been possible for me to work the way I have.
What advice would you have for others who are thinking of running a business with their partner in life?
Grant: You have to really be comfortable that you can spend all day and night with your partner, and can handle the associated pressures.
Merryn: You have to have confidence in your partner's ability and they in yours and you need to have complementary skills. Also, get a cleaner and make sure your husband can cook - the first I have sussed, but the second is an epic fail!
Coming up in Your Business: Everyone's a publisher these days and more businesses are publishing content through their own channels such as blogs, newsletters and social media. What are some of the tips and tricks small business owners are using to make sure their content marketing is hitting the mark? If you've got a story to tell, drop me a note: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com
