Stop Complaining About Your Business!

Spouses must also take the initiative to express their expectations clearly:

• You have a right to express your feelings if you have all the facts. But the key words here are "all the facts," says Kliska, who sees family meetings as the way for spouses to hear all sides of thorny issues.

• You have a right to a life apart from the family in business. You need to take vacations away from the family, have friends outside the business, and make time for your own family so your spouse's family doesn't engulf you.

You needn't discuss business all the time. Your career or activities are equally interesting topics of dinner-time conversation. "If the family business is too intrusive," says Gage, "it can take a toll on intimacy."

This article was originally published in the December 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Fine Line.