My business partner is also my spouse, and we want to exit the business in three years, but they are currently sitting in the Operations seat and their performance is slipshod, which is hurting our valuation. How do we address this RPRS issue without destroying our marriage or the business?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is where personal relationships and business structures collide, and it requires absolute, unsentimental objectivity. You must separate the business partner relationship from the seat on the Accountability Chart. During your weekly Level 10 Meeting, you are business leaders, not spouses. You must run an objective GWC and Core Values assessment on your spouse for the Operations seat. If their performance is slipshod, they do not GWC the seat. To resolve this without destroying your personal relationship, use Keith Cunningham's Thinking Time framework. Spend forty-five minutes framing the question: How might we transition my spouse out of active operations so that we can maximize our business valuation for our joint retirement? This changes the conversation from a personal attack to a shared financial goal. Frame the exit as the ultimate victory. Hire a professional operations manager to take over the seat, and transition your spouse to a passive shareholder role or a light advisory board seat. Buyers will discount your valuation heavily if they see a key operational seat held by an underperforming family member. Removing them from active operations and replacing them with a competent leader who GWC's the seat will immediately boost your enterprise value and bring peace back to your home.