A friend of mine recently asked me, “When your business partner is your spouse, what steps should you take to keep the business and personal relationships separate?” This is a very tough question. Many new businesses are started by couples, which can cause conflicts within the marriage. From my own personal experience, I know that my husband and I cannot work together. When it comes to business, we somehow forget how to communicate and we both get terribly frustrated.

Here are 5 tips on how to manage being in business with your spouse:

1. Establish the ground rules on who is responsible for what. For example, the husband might be responsible for attending networking events to build relationships and strategic partnerships. Whereas the wife might be responsible for managing hiring, firing and other employee matters.

2. Agree to leave business at the office and personal issues at the house. Sometimes these two are very difficult to separate, especially if you work out of the home. My uncle and his wife do this successfully.

3. Create your own schedules. For example, do not go to lunch with each other. Instead, spend time out of the office away from each other so that you don’t have the opportunity to discuss business or life issues.

4. Establish a process to resolve conflict. Agree to meet with a third-party to discuss the business conflict. Be sure this person can be neutral to the issue at hand. Either establish a compromise (make sure it is a win/win) or negotiate to reach an agreement.

5. Every 3 to 4 months discuss the overall business and its environment such as the goals, how well or poorly you are working together, employee issues, etc. Make any adjustments necessary to ensure both the business and your marriage continue to do well.

Working with your spouse can be both challenging and rewarding. Communication is the key to making this partnership successful.