Working with your partner can be a tricky thing to navigate – while owning a business together is a whole other level! But, it can also be incredibly rewarding – in more ways than one. Hannah Acland, who owns Mons Royale with her husband says there’s one important thing that’s essential to making it work though…
Welcome to The One Thing! Every week we’re bringing you the one nugget of info that you need to know or didn’t know you needed to know! Whether it’s a tip to make your life a little easier, a pearl of wisdom, something to make you think, or maybe something to make you laugh, The One Thing is here to serve you every Friday!
If you’ve got a suggestion or submission for The One Thing – maybe something about the industry you work in that you think others should know! – please send your thoughts to alice@capsulenz.com. We’d love to hear from you!
There’s plenty of people who’ll advise you against doing it – and some employers who actually straight out prohibit it – but the fact is many of us have dated someone who we work with. Yes, these relationships can wind up getting you into some very tricky situations – but, a lot of them last too. Here in NZ it’s believed about 15% of us met our partners through work.
Working together with your spouse can be one thing, but owning a business together is a whole other kettle of fish – and it’s a trend that’s on the increase. Whether it’s a little side hustle that’s taken flight, or a strategic move to create a new business, the number of husband and wife owned businesses is on the rise.
It most certainly isn’t for the fainthearted though, as Hannah Acland could tell you!
She and her husband Hamish are the founders of Kiwi success story, Mons Royale. The brand creates high-performance merino wool apparel for action sports like skiing, snowboarding and biking. While they do well here in NZ, they’re a hit in Europe, where around 60% of their sales come from.
Hannah and Hamish started the brand together in 2009 – they both came from High Country farms so really knew a thing or two about merino. Hannah had a background in design and Hamish was a professional skier, although they both had a love for action and adventure sports. The idea for the brand came together when Hamish was lamenting the fact that there wasn’t anything in his ski gear that could cut it up then mountain, and that he could hang out in a bar wearing afterwards.
The brand took off – particularly in Europe. But not without some hard work, which can be a particularly full-on proposition when you’re doing it with the person you also live and share a bed with.
So, how do you make it work?
“This is probably the most common question I get asked!” says Hannah. “I’ll be honest: it’s not for everyone! Certain personality types make it more workable. Hamish and I are both pretty adaptable (and probably quite tolerant of each other too!), but the thing that really makes it work is that we share the same long-term vision.
“I often compare it to couples who run a farm together. You’re co-managing something that’s a huge part of your lives, and that partnership can be incredibly rewarding when it’s aligned”
Hannah says there’s one thing that is key to making it work though, when you’re running a business alongside your spouse.
“Knowing when to switch off,” she says. “You need to consciously carve out space for yourselves outside of work and be disciplined about creating boundaries at home. It’s something we’re constantly working on.”
When you’re running your own business, it can be easy to find switching off difficult. It’s easy for the lines of work and your own life to be blurred. But, when you’re doing it with a partner, it’s even harder. But making sure that date night out together doesn’t just turn into talking about work over dinner and a glass of wine, is essential.
And, says Hannah, there are also so many upsides to having your partner alongside you on the journey.
“The benefit is that we’re always on the same wavelength, riding the highs and lows together,” she says. “That shared experience means we can celebrate wins more deeply and support each other when things get tough. We also have quite different roles in the business, which helps, although we overlap a lot, those differences create balance.”
There have been plenty of times when she’s felt gratitude that they can lean on each other during the whole process.
A real turning point in their business came just as they were in the middle of a tumultuous time. A major issue with their European distributor cropped up and they had a sudden decision to make – would they stay in NZ, or move to Switzerland for a while to remedy it? They decided to take the leap – although, it couldn’t have come at a worse time, personally.
“That was a wild chapter,” says Hannah. “Just two months before we left, Hamish had lost his father (his mum had passed away about a decade earlier), so we were in the middle of grieving, adjusting to life with a new baby [Their baby Ted was just three months old!], and then suddenly needed to pack up and move!
“Like most big steps we’ve taken with Mons, we decided to just go all in. At that age, Ted was actually easier to travel with than you might expect, he was breastfeeding so food-wise it was just me to pack, and he could sleep anywhere. In the beginning, he slept in drawers, suitcases, whatever we had on hand!
“Looking back, that trip was a turning point. It definitely helped us avoid some major setbacks, and in hindsight, it was the right call, even if it felt a bit mad at the time.”
So yes, says Hannah, running a business with your partner is no cake walk, but she also can’t think of a better way of doing things now.
“Running a business is a rollercoaster, and doing it with your family adds another layer to the ride,” she says. ”But if you can stay aligned on values, communicate openly, and keep a sense of humour, it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do!”