Categories
Digital Presence & Marketing Strategy

Why Starting an Online Business is Like Marriage

How does this relate to starting an online business?

Marriage really is like a business in many ways: when you propose to your sweetheart, you have to be a great salesman, you have to love what you’re doing, you have to be really committed and self motivated, you have to focus, focus, focus, you have to be creative and unique (aka find your niche), you have to take time off and enjoy life, and at times you have to deal with hard times and look beyond imperfections (small success leads to big success!).

The key is, if you’re doing what you love to do when starting an online business, times like this will be fun to look back on and laugh off. If you’re always looking for the “trophy wife” type business that’s going to make you a lot of money really quick while you sit back and enjoy the sun, a catastrophe like this one will end it all – you’ll fly south and look for any reason to quit or give up.

Any creative thoughts on how you can relate this funny wedding video to your online business endeavor?

27 replies on “Why Starting an Online Business is Like Marriage”

Hmmm how does this relate to my wife smashing half the cake into my face after I dabbed a little on her nose????

Actually, it can. How many times do you get into something where you underestimated a response? I think that was something that I’ve had to realize is how much work it is to get your internet business going.

Hopefully, you were “good friends” beforehand so that way when it gets tough you can hang through it.

Anything worthwhile takes work! I think one of the hardest things is dealing with unrealistic expectations, both in a business setting and with the spouse. Sometimes, without even knowing, you are doing exactly the OPPOSITE of what your spouse wants and they don’t bother telling you until they are ticked off. That’s why I’m glad I had a great mentor to help me get started.

I’ve seen that happen – try working with multiple suppliers! It’s always YOUR fault when a supplier forgets to let you know the product is temporarily out of stock or has been discontinued!

Wow! I know that an online business takes commitment but marriage? Then again, I love that girl, so if I have to marry her to hold on to her, then by golly, I will marry her. 🙂

Commitment is only PART of it 🙂 It takes ENDURANCE at times too and patience, and hard work, and empathy, and a willingness to fail a few times before you succeed. The more I talk about starting an online business and marriage, the more I feel like there are one and the same!

Then you add kids to the mix and now you have multiple “businesses” to manage! The fun never ends!

Great comparison… When business is taken as love then everything seems to be perfect and love will never lessen… So business will also grow to success…
Thanks for the post…

You gotta love the one your with…isn’t that a song?

If you don’t wake up every morning with a burning desire to do things, you don’t have enough goals. – Lou Holtz

To me, goals and passion go hand in hand. If you aren’t setting goals for your business, you aren’t committed enough and need to evaluate the direction you’re headed.

Thanks for the comment.

Good analogy, marriage is tough and business is tough. However, like any successful marriage you have to work at it daily, you have to date your wife like you did in the beginning, or you loose the momentum and fire. Duke Ellington said, “A problem is a chance for you to do your best”. Keep working hard through each bump in the road and in the end the best will happen, both in a marriage and with business.

So which is tougher? I agree, you have to chip away at both, marriage and business, if you want to keep making progress. Momentum is such a key part of progress. That’s how I came up with the mantra, “Small Success leads to Big Success!” It’s the little things you do every day that make all the difference, in marriage and business.

Thanks for the comment!

I would have to say that in today’s society business success is rewarded and looked upon much more positively than success in marriage (divorce is almost a status symbol). I am not sure one is harder than the other, but I believe we as humans gravitate to the things that bring about success and recognition (right or wrong). However, for me I heard someone once say “No success can compensate for failure in the home”. I happen to believe that a lot. I find more lasting joy with my wife and two little children. Although a bit of the business success would be nice too!! So both are tough, both are rewarding.

Yeah, no one can really “see” success in the home, at least directly. Many get caught up in the Bling Bling and look past the most important things.

I feel like, if there is success in the home, other success comes too.

Success breeds success!

Haha…I bet that dude and his first man are no longer friends cause the wifey harbors negative feelings toward him. Rough stuff. Anyway, I agree…both need work and time and if you want to do any golfing you better make sure you are on top of your game, or both your wife and business will bite you.

Or, the dude didn’t want to get married after all and sent a text to his best man to get him out of the sticky situation 🙂

Work + Time + Persistence + Patience (and occasional swearing!) all those things and more (marriage, golf and the spouse :))

No one likes to get bitten!

Glad you liked it. In online marketing, creativity is another key to success. It’s hard to be creative if you’re doing something you don’t really like.

I’ll look forward to upcoming blog posts of yours. Glad we’re SU friends!

And if you dont pay attention to your business (wife) you’re gonna get in serious trouble. 🙂

Agreed, you have to go into the endeavor fully committed.

thanks nate

Trouble is a nice way to put it! Businesses, and especially marriages, fail quite often because little or NO attention was paid to the important issues. If there isn’t a true commitment and people want something for nothing, they’ll get just that – NOTHING!

Thanks for the comments Aaron!

Patience and many times, frustration will enter into the challenge. When you have a message to share and one keeps running into brick walls, a/k/a people just don’t get it or want to listen, that’s when frustration enters and patience emerges as the biggest challenge!

I too think this might have been “staged” as why wouldn’t there have been a railing to protect someone from stumbling/tripping like this goofball did?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *