Author: Tish

Hi, all! Tish here.

This is the beginning of a series (ideally a long one) of posts about running a small business.

Many of you have probably heard me tell the short version of our story in store or on social media. But if you haven’t here it is: As long as I have known Cassidy, (which is 16 years now, we’ve been married for 11), he has talked about this kind of store, where you could play video games and connect with other gamers, rather than just a typical shopping venue. A few years ago, I was tired of hearing him talk about it and challenged him to write a business plan. I thought that would be the end of it, that he would decide it was more work than he wanted to do and we could move on from the idea.

As you can see, that is not what happened.

Personally I wasn’t very prepared for what running this business would entail. When we were starting this endeavor I  didn’t think I would be as involved as I have been. Obviously that was a foolish expectation. And looking back, I can see that it was a selfish one. Thinking that this was a dream that he could chase by himself never really made sense in reality.

A few months into this business, I realized that I needed to step in with both feet. I needed to contribute. I don’t like to do things that are hard, but watching Cassidy burn out would be harder.

I struggled for a long time to feel and take ownership of this business, even though my name was on all the papers too. All I could see was my inadequacy. I really am not a gamer (the hashtag we use is real). I’m not great with technology. And I know next to nothing about running a business.

So I started researching and discovered that there are surprisingly few resources for spouses/partners of entrepreneurs. And there are a lot of statistics about their divorce rates, which are nearly 50%. Not exactly helpful, when you’re trying to grow your marriage rather than end it.

This blog series is for anyone who is curious about the behind the scenes at Replay, but also I hope I can be a resource for anyone in a relationship with a business owner. It isn’t easy, but most things worth doing are hard. Come along for the ride.

Image Credit to Haley Frost Creative