On Being Newly Married and Running a Successful Business

Life has been great lately. I’ve married a wonderful woman and my business is on an upward curve.

But new experiences bring with them new lessons and revelations. As a recently married man I’ve noticed a few similarities between my role as a husband and that as a business owner. Hopefully, my married readers will find some resonance here — if not that, at least some humor!

It first struck me during the return trip from our honeymoon. I started thinking about some of the new people in my life. Through my marriage I have acquired two brothers, two new parents, a whole set of uncles, and I’m thankful for that as I like the idea of a large happy family.

But, being the hands-on CEO that I am, that also brought to mind some of the Web development projects my company had completed over the past year, and all of the clients as well as potential leads that I had spoken to during the time. I realized that my team and my clients (who I think of as my family) were the closest thing I had to marriage in my bachelor life.

In business as in life, you meet new people and as you cultivate relationships with them you begin to notice little things and how it all affects your interaction with them. You might even call these stereotypical, though I’ve found them to be rather instructive.

Consider the old adage, “The customer is always right!” Or, “If you keep the customer happy, life will be good.” Now substitute customers with your spouse and you can see how direct this correlation is!

With extensive experience in the field of customer service, I know only too well the importance of keeping clients happy and satisfied, and now I’m quickly learning to do the same for my wife. Life is indeed good if I keep her happy!

Then there’s this another thing that good businesses swear by: small things make a big difference. I am finding out that the small things I do for my wife, those little gestures that may not seem like a big deal at the time, have as much weight, or even more so, than the big (in my mind) things I do for her.

Unexpected romantic gestures like bringing her flowers after work can sometimes get me more brownie points than the fact that I put in up to 18 hours in a typical work day to provide for us.

However, I have to feel the urge to do so on my own. If she has to ask me or remind me to bring flowers for her, then it is pointless (and usually results in a fight)! As the CEO of our startup I plan to apply these wife lessons to my business, in a bid to make our customers happier.

After all, the little things convey to them that we are thinking of them and that their happiness matters to us a lot. Eventually those little things will pile up and separate us from our competition.

As you grow your company, division, or even marital ties, please remember not to forget the little things as they will help build not just long-lasting business relationships, but also a happy home. As one of the founders of Imaginovation, offering our software and Web design services is a passion and I have grown to love my job. It’s immensely satisfying to see our services helping other companies grow both online and offline. Helping people is what I enjoy the most.

Combining my experience as the owner of my company and now as a husband, I feel my personal life is complementing my professional life beautifully and, indeed, one is aiding my growth in the other. I value customer satisfaction even more now, and the lessons learned from our customers are helping me build good ties with my new family. The motivation from my wife to do something great with this company, as well as the enthusiasm and hard work of my partners and teammates have all contributed to an effort that I feel is truly joyful and inspiring. I’m in a good place right now, and I hope my perspective has inspired my readers as well!