You love him, live with him and even work with him!

Sounds like bit much doesn’t it? Jokes apart, if the thought of spending the larger part of 24 hours with your man sounds appealing, if your professional skill and expertise complement his and your temperaments are perfect foils to each other – perhaps the idea of working together is a good one.

Together On the Job

Working together with your man could mean many things. Like human resources manager Pallavi” and her consultant husband Tushar* you could be in the same office but in different departments. Or like entrepreneur and writer Minhazz and husband Shariyar o you could have set up a venture together. Pallavi and Tushar met at the firm and married five months ago. And if Pallavi is to be believed, they have the best of both worlds: “Different professions and departments mean we have various things to talk about and nobody can accuse either of us of playing favourites. But his presence in the office is reassuring for me. I can always depend on his solid and honest advice to bail me out of a tough spot!”

Fun is also part of the bargain. “At office parties, we are the couple whose love story is much in circulation,” laughs Tushar. On a lighter note, Pallavi adds: “It also means I don’t have to drive to work though I come back on my own as Tushar’s hours are longer. The best part is having the same holidays!”

Two Timing

Time to wake up and do a reality check.

Figure out whether you would end up making a success of your work or take each other to court. Before you move lock, stock and barrel and start the business, give it one of those long, deep thoughts.

Define why you are working together.

Is it for love or money? In other words is it a desire to be with each other, build something together, to complement each other’s skills or a plain economic necessity?

Once you’ve figured out the whys, figure out the hows. Is one of you going to be more in command? Is it going to be a long or short-term partnership? Can you opt out if you feel you’re not up to the challenge?

One important step is to identify each other’s strengths and see how you can work together as a team. Take over paperwork if he is Mr Messy Desk and you are the real-life version of Monica from ‘Friends’. Is one of you a people’s person and the other the creative genius? Let him handle sales and marketing and you manage the idea factory.