Wendy Carlson for The New York Times After they divorced, Valerie Calistro and Augie Ribeiro were told they should not work together.

Today’s Question

What small-business owners think.

Agostinho Ribeiro and Valerie Calistro met in law school. As a small-business guide we have just published reports, their relationship blossomed in the early ’90s at a law firm where Mr. Ribeiro was essentially the chief executive. They got married in 1998, and soon after, Ms. Calistro took a more active role in running the company’s operations. Together, they built the business into what is now a 50-person operation with an emphasis on civil litigation. It became their baby.

But while the business grew, their marriage fell apart. They divorced in 2006, and suddenly, the former spouses had to make a choice: Should they continue running the business together or should one of them leave? “People said, including both of our lawyers, that we shouldn’t work together,” Mr. Ribeiro said. “But we talked in an office for two hours and decided we should try to make our business relationship work.” Perhaps surprisingly, they are still working together, and they say the firm is doing well.

Written by Bryan Borzykowski, the guide notes that this situation is more common than many realize — the Census Bureau estimates that 3.7 million businesses are owned by a husband and a wife — and it offers suggestions for divorced business owners who want to try to make the best of a difficult situation.

Do you think you could continue to run a business with a former spouse?

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/could-you-run-a-business-with-a-former-spouse/?partner=rss&emc=rss