Two's Company - Module 8

C1 Advanced · Multiple Matching · Advanced Expert Coursebook, Pearson Education

You are going to read a magazine article about four married couples who have started their own businesses. For questions 1–10, choose from the couples (A-D). The couples may be chosen more than once.

A James and Tamara have a hotel-booking service

James and Tamara started their hotel guides as a hobby. ‘It all began with me taking Tamara away for some pretty miserable weekends in some dodgy hotels, thanks to a guidebook that shall remain nameless,’ explains James. ‘We decided we should write our own.’ The couple turned their spare bedroom into an office and worked on the venture in their free time. However, when the first guide was published, it took off immediately, encouraging them to expand into an equally lucrative hotel-booking service. ‘It just took on a life of its own, although there were downs as well as ups while we were actually researching and writing the guide. It certainly wasn’t all plain sailing,’ Tamara says. She describes the tensions of writing to tight deadlines and having their first manuscript turned down. There is a natural split in their areas of expertise: as chief executive, James looks after the overall business and brand while Tamara deals with the technology side of the company, which is not James’ strong point. Tamara says her husband is more entrepreneurial. ‘James wants to crack on with an idea immediately, whereas I like to think things through.’

B Kim and Jason co-own three furniture shops

When Kim started going out with Jason, they were both working for the same investment bank but when Jason suggested starting up their own business, selling eco-friendly wooden furniture, Kim saw it as an adventure. ‘I’d got rather disillusioned with the world of finance. Helping rich people to get even richer didn’t tie in with my values. I wanted to do something which would help the world.’ Jason felt much the same, although he now admits it was reckless to give up their jobs at the bank before they had got the business up and running. ‘But we had bags of energy and believed in what we were doing, so we just decided to take the plunge.’ After they took over a furniture shop which was losing money, sales soon increased by 70 percent, enabling them to take on additional staff and eventually open a further two shops. At one stage, the couple tried having their office at home. ‘It didn’t go well. Jason is messy and I’m tidy; the plan to just get up and be in your office has quite a high failure rate,’ says Kim. Both of them also regularly spend time serving in the shop. ‘It’s an essential way of getting feedback from the people who buy our products,’ explains Kim.

C Chris and Joanna have a coaching and consultancy company

While Chris and Jo were doing executive training, they were told that many companies were not very good at managing women who left to have children and later returned to work. So they launched Talking Talent, a company that helps organisations attract, retain and maximise the potential of women. ‘Since setting it up, we’ve had three children ourselves. As a working mother, I understand the problems and constraints, and by making it possible for me to still be involved in the company, we like to think we’re practising what we preach,’ says Jo. But work–life balance can be a double-edged sword. ‘We can do things during the working day that we might not otherwise be able to do, such as popping home to have lunch with the children. The challenge is that when there’s a lot going on, it’s not just one of us feeling stressed, it’s both of us,’ says Jo. They don’t tread on each other’s toes. Chris enjoys managing teams and delivering executive coaching, while Jo looks after client relationships and wins new business. Jo says people have the perception that the couple spend all their time together. ‘But our business is very client-focused so we’ll probably cross paths at work once a week, if that,’ she says.

D Henry and Glynis produce healthy cooking oils

Having worked together in the film industry for much of their married life, Henry and Glynis embarked on a project to bring them back to their farming roots. ‘When we started out, we had absolutely no knowledge of the retail business. At first when we talked to potential customers about our products – oils made from hemp seed – nobody understood why we were doing it. We couldn’t seem to get it right. But our innocence was probably to our advantage because people seemed to like the idea that here were two people who had stumbled across something and put years of effort into it. Eventually a big supermarket gave our product a try. It just went from there.’ Henry and Glynis don’t mind that their office work spills over into their home life. ‘Every business decision that’s made has to be run past each other so that we both agree. One of the greatest things about us running the company is that there’s this mutual goal, and every success seems to make us stronger as a couple,’ says Glynis.

Two's Company

We speak to four married couples who have started their own businesses.

mentions how lack of experience may have helped them to get business

says their instant success was not achieved without some setbacks

mentions the advantages and disadvantages of working together

believes in the importance of getting direct customer feedback

tries to run their own business according to the principles it promotes

feels disappointed about how their previous jobs turned out

appreciates the positive effect of the business on their relationship

was inspired to go into business by their own unsatisfactory experiences

makes efficient use of their differing skills and abilities

admits that there is little personal contact between them on a working day

Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

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