When discussing couples involved in small businesses, many commentaries portray romanticized ‘in love-in business’ accounts. Little is known, however, about the ways in which venture creation is constructed between co-habiting couples. Neither is it reported, except for negative conceptions of ‘lifestyle’ businesses, how co-habiting couples negotiate their life-making aspirations with risk-taking activities associated with business venturing. In this article, fieldwork material is drawn from 26 co-preneurial situations to develop a typology of co-preneurship using ownership and management structural dimensions. This typology is illustrated with different types of lifestyle businesses to demonstrate the economic assessments and ‘market work’ that give rise to family entrepreneurship. This focus is important for taking account of the increasing numbers of couples who combine their skills and labour with a spouse or co-habiting partner in order to develop (or re-position an existing) business venture.
Aldrich H. and Cliff J. ( 2003) The pervasive effects of family on entrepreneurship: Toward a family embeddedness approach. Journal of Business Venturing18(5): 573-597.
2.
Astrachan JH ( 2003) Commentary on the special issue: The emergence of a field . Journal of Business Venturing18: 567-572.
3.
Baines S. and Wheelock J. ( 1998) Reinventing traditional solutions: Job creation, gender and the micro-business household. Work, Employment and Society12(4): 579-601.
4.
Baines S. and Wheelock J. ( 2004) A household-based approach to the small business family . In: Fletcher D (ed.) Understanding the Family Business. London: Routledge.
5.
Baines S., Wheelock J. and Abrams A. ( 1997) Micro-business owner-managers in social context: Household, family and growth or non-growth. In: Deakins D, Jennings P and Mason C (eds) Small Firms: Entrepreneurship in the Nineties. London: Paul Chapman .
6.
Barnett F. and Barnett S. ( 1988) Working Together: Entrepreneurial Couples. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
7.
Brockhaus RH ( 1994) Entrepreneurship and family business research: Comparisons and lessons. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Fall: 25-37.
8.
Bryant KD and Zick CD ( 2006) The Economic Organization of the Household. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
9.
Burgess RG ( 1982) Elements of sampling in field research. In: Burgess RG (ed.) Field Research: A Sourcebook and Field Manual. London: George, Allen and Unwin.
10.
Campbell-Clark S. ( 2000) Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/family balance. Human Relations53(6): 747-770.
11.
Clark Cambell S. ( 2000) Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/family balance. Human Relations53(6): 747-770.
12.
de Bruin A. and Lewis K. ( 2004) Towards an enhanced understanding of united career paths: Familial entrepreneurship and co-preneurship. Working paper 20. Auckland, NZ: Department of Commerce, Massey University .
13.
Dyer WG and Handler W. ( 1994) Entrepreneurship and family business: Exploring the connections . Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Autumn: 71-83.
14.
Fenwick TJ ( 2002) Transgressive desires: new enterprising selves in the new capitalism. Work, Employment and Society16(4): 703-723.
15.
Fournier V. and Lightfoot G. ( 1997) Identity, work and family business. In Ram M, Deakins D and Smallbone D (eds) Small Firms: Enterprising Futures. London: Paul Chapman.
16.
Glaser BG and Strauss AL ( 1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory. New York: Aldine.
17.
Granovetter M. ( 1985) The economic sociology of firms and entrepreneurs. In: Swedberg R (ed.) (2000) Entrepreneurship: The Social Science View. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
18.
Habbershon TG and Pistrui J. ( 2002) Enterprising families domain: Family-influenced ownership groups in pursuit of transgenerational wealth. Family Business Review15(3): 223-238.
19.
Hamilton E. ( 2006) Whose story is it anyway? Narrative accounts of the role of women in founding and establishing family businesses. International Small Business Journal24(3): 253-271.
20.
Holliday R. ( 1995) Investigating Small Firms: Nice Work. London: Routledge.
21.
Hoy F. ( 2003). Legitimizing family business scholarship in organizational research and education. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice27 (4): 417-422.
22.
Hoy F. and Verser TG ( 1994) Emerging business, emerging field: Entrepreneurship and the family firm. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Autumn: 9-23.
23.
Jaffe D. ( 1990) Working with the Ones You Love: Conflict Resolution and Problem Solving Strategies for Successful Family Businesses. Berkeley, CA: Conari Press.
24.
Kadis LB and McClendon R. ( 1991) A relationship perspective on the couple-owned business . Family Business ReviewIV(4): 413-423.
25.
Kanter RM ( 1979) Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books.
26.
Litz RA ( 1995) The family business: Toward definitional Clarity. Family Business Review8(2): 71-81.
27.
Marshack KJ ( 1993) Co-entrepreneurial couples: A literature review on boundaries and transitions among co-preneurs. Family Business ReviewVI(4): 355-369.
28.
Marshack KJ ( 1994) Love and work: How co-entrepreneurial couples manage the boundaries and transitions in personal relationship and business partnership. PhD thesis. Santa Barbara, CA: The Fielding Institute.
29.
MORE TH>N Business (2005) The new alterpreneur economy: A national of life makers not risk takers. Available at: http://www.alterpreneur.co.uk. (Accessed November 2005).
30.
Nelson S. ( 1986) In Love and in Business: How Entrepreneurial Couples are Changing the Rules of Business and Marriage. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
31.
Patton MQ ( 1990) Qualitative Evaluation of Research Methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
32.
Ponthieu LD and Caudill HL ( 1993) Who’s the boss? Responsibility and decision-making in copreneurial ventures, Family Business ReviewVI(1):3-17.
33.
Poza EJ and Messer T. ( 2001) Spousal leadership and continuity in the family firm. Family Business Review XIV (1): 25-36.
34.
Ram M. ( 1994) Managing to Survive - Working Lives in Small Firms. Oxford: Blackwell.
35.
Rappoport R. and Rappoport R. ( 1971) Dual Career Families. Baltimore: Penguin Books.
36.
Shumate M. and Fulk J. ( 2004). Boundaries and role conflict when work and family are collocated: A communication network and symbolic interaction approach. Human Relations57(1):55-74.
37.
Shumate M. and Fulk J. ( 2007) Boundaries and role conflict when work and family are co-located: A communication network and symbolic interaction approach, Human Relations57(1): 55-74.
38.
Small Business Service ( 2006) SBS Household Survey of Entrepreneurship 2005. London: IFF Research Ltd.
39.
Storey J., Salaman, G., and Platman K. ( 2005) Living with enterprise in an enterprise economy: Freelance and contract workers in the media. Human Relations58(8): 1033-1054.
40.
Wheelock J. ( 1991) The flexibility of small business family work strategies . In: Caley K, Chell E, Chittenden F, and Mason C (eds) Small Enterprise Development: Policy and Practice in Action London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
41.
Zablocki BD and Kanter RM ( 1976) The Differentiation of Life-Styles. Annual Review of Sociology2: 269-298.
42.
Zody Z., Sprenkle D., MacDermid S., and Schrank H. ( 2006) Boundaries and the Functioning of Family and Business Systems. Journal of Family and Economic Issues27(2): 185-206.
