Why Owning a Business Does Not Make Every Process Perfect
In Married To Production EP1, Jessica and I talk about a difficult expectation: if you own a business, it should already be perfectly organized. We look back at how our understanding of running a company changed through experience.
An expectation needs a concrete meaning
"Be organized" can mean several things. One person may mean clear files, another may mean a schedule and another may mean knowing who will answer a question. If partners use the same word for different needs, the conversation can become frustrating before the actual problem is clear.
Choose one situation to discuss. What information was missing? Who needed it? At what point would it have helped? That makes an expectation specific enough to act on.
Improvement is different from perfection
Recognizing that a process is still developing does not remove responsibility for the work. It gives you a starting point for a better version. A short checklist, an agreed handoff or one place for feedback may solve a real problem more effectively than trying to redesign everything at once.
Check whether the change works in normal use. A process that looks organized in a document but adds confusion to a shoot needs another look.
Talk about progress fairly
It helps to identify what has improved as well as what still needs attention. Otherwise, a conversation about one difficult moment can sound like a verdict on the entire business. Be specific in both directions.
This clip is an honest account of our perspective, not a presentation of a flawless company. The wider episode includes the good, difficult and untidy parts of working together. For another couple considering a shared business, the practical question is how you will discuss expectations and make useful changes when reality does not match the first picture in your head.
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