Husband & Wife teams

[Bill Ballard]

At 3:45 PM -0400 5/24/00, Mark Graham wrote:
>What if Ra Byn and Tara actually like each other and would cooperate, and
>the more experienced would help the lesser-experienced, and even save her
>from situations where his expertise could do so (I think those are the
>gender roles here)? Tara could learn action work, which any competent
>person could do, and together they could do more than two people
>separately. It would take humility and flexibility.
>
>I know that's a funny concept of marriage, but it just could work.
>
>I know married couples who thrive on doing things together without
>competing, and I know others who do better by giving each other more
>space. Ra Byn and Tara could look at the patterns already present in their
>relationship and have some idea of how piano togetherness would go.

I'm sure that's the way they feel about each other, and they should charge
right into this with all of my blessings. But he should keep in mind what
could happen should things go south with this arrangement.

An example in my town. One of a couple supports the other and four children
with a struggling graphic design business. That one even trains the other
to help with the workload. When the marraige breaks up and the second finds
that they should be earning their own income, the second starts soliciting
GD work locally (including among the first's  established clientel). The
first is understandibly annoyed because of being the primary breadwinner
both before and after the separation, and because the second had been
trained by that first of the couple.

Like the bumper sticker says...... You would have never guessed it could
fly until it hits the fan.

Non-compete clauses are quite common in skilled-trade and professional
shops. It simply means that if you train someone, and send them out to
service your own customers, you can be spared the nightmare of having that
person quit on you on a Friday, and open up shop next Monday across the
street,  taking your client list with them.

>Mark Graham
>(happily married for 23 years to someone who gives me LOTS of space and
>won't even play Monopoly with me let alone go into business)

My best wishes to you and the Mrs. <g>

At 11:00 AM -0600 5/24/00, Stacy Adams wrote:

>One technician does not need the permission of another to start up in this
>business.  An existing technician does not own the market in a given area.
>Newcomers are free to compete for their market share.  Why wouldn't this
>same reasoning apply to Ra Byn and Tara?

Because Tara, bless her heart, is not arriving independently with her own
independently developed skills. She is there because Robin opened up his
business to her, providing her with the training and tools for this very
rare skill. Robin should look into that crystal ball and study for at least
a moment the possibilty that the two of them might part on not-so-sweet
terms ten years from now, and that he had gained not just an ex, but a new
competitor whose business was launched on what had been his.

Don't misunderstand. I sure that decades from now Robin and Tara will be
emailing to us about their Golden Anniversary. But the more things you do
together as a married couple, the more has to be ripped apart when the
marraige breaks up. And for Robin and Tara, this means the piano business.
And if I were Robin, I I know I couldn't find the nerve even to bring up
the subject of a non-compete clause.  And having been shown the dark side
of this situation, I would also dedicate myself to this marraige. It is to
enjoy and to make joyful.

Bill Ballard, RPT
New Hampshire Chapter, PTG

"Blessed are the cynical,
		for they hath made backups."
    ...........anon