Selling a Business Blog

From ChicagoBusiness.com: Love, Labor's Loss

"When the financial stability of a company is at risk, the situation requires partners to make all sorts of decisions," says Sally Druckner, president of Druckner Mediation Services LLC, a Chicago-based firm that works with partnerships and small businesses. Painful choices about layoffs, budget cuts and how to allocate suddenly scarce dollars can spark disagreements that scar personal relationships: "Finances are the basis of all evil, of all things that cause stress and trouble," she says.

The Suns' cloudy home life forced the couple into a two-month-long conversation about the future: "Are we going to spend time together, or are we going to sell our business?" Mr. Sun recalls.

"I won't say they were easy conversations; I won't say there weren't tears shed," Ms. Sun says.

To protect both their marriage and business, the Suns decided on several ground rules: Spend more "date nights" alone, rather than with other couples, and have a nice dinner, with several courses and wine, together every Friday night as a way to shift from the workweek to the weekend.

Read the full article here.