The thought of putting your very special relationship with your future husband or wife into statistics and quantities may sound ridiculous and inappropriate. But, marriage remains a formal contractual agreement into which you enter together. And there is no doubt that this agreement is the most exciting, brave and permanent of all. By putting your [...]

The thought of putting your very special relationship with your future husband or wife into statistics and quantities may sound ridiculous and inappropriate. But, marriage remains a formal contractual agreement into which you enter together. And there is no doubt that this agreement is the most exciting, brave and permanent of all.

By putting your relationship into a formal business plan, you (as a couple) are forced to discuss and agree upon certain terms and conditions, means of tackling issues and the consequences for not fulfilling your obligations. These matters have to have been discussed thoroughly by the time you decide to get married. The concept of a business plan simply puts your agreement into quantifiable terms. It also assists each person to have a tangible reference of priorities, outcomes and plans of action.

A business plan is a formal statement of specified goals, your motivation for believing that you can reach those goals and your plan to do so. It contains some background information, funding details, the history of the people involved in the venture and a back-up plan for when unexpected problems arise.

The following structure will help you, as a couple, to put a document together that outlines the technicalities of your marriage:

Cover Page and Table of Contents
Executive Summary
A basic summary of the main points and the incentives behind your business plan.

Business Description
Describe the nature of the marriage, what you each value as being important, your careers, interests and individual personalities.

Business Environment Analysis
This would traditionally include competitors, market or customer demand, age groups of your target market etc… In the context of a marriage, this section will refer to the experience that you have both had in previous marriages or in the marriages of your parents. Discuss ex-spouses and children from previous relationships here.

Industry Background
Be more detailed about your previous relationships or marriages in this section, how they contributed to your experience and insight and how you may be able to use this experience to improve your new marriage.

Competitive Analysis
The competition that each spouse faces is usually in the form of the other partner’s career, children, hobbies and personal commitments. Discuss how these will be balanced and handled in reasonable and fair ways.

Market Analysis
Investigate the marriages of your happily married friends and analyse their success. What are they doing right? Ascertain ways in which you can learn from their mistakes and emulate their successes.

Marketing Plan
List a few ways in which you both plan to take initiative, in order to allow your partner to get what they need out of this marriage arrangement. You need to use strategies that will appeal to your target market (your spouse, in this case). Communication is a vital way of collecting and collating data, and then in dealing with your spouse.

Operations Plan
Consider the practical, physical things that you will need to do to make things run smoothly and happily between you. This could include list items like “I will not leave my wet towel on the floor after my shower”, for example.

Management Summary
This section is designed to outline who will be making certain decisions, as well as why and how they will do so. One of you may be better at making certain decisions than the other. For instance, as the wife-to-be, you might be better qualified and able to be responsible for the family finances because you have a background in bookkeeping, for example. As with any organisation, all decisions need to be approved by both members within the marriage before a final verdict is made.

Financial Plan
It is crucial that you know from where money will be coming and on what it will be spent. Most marriage conflicts and problems arise from financial issues. Ensure that you are both informed and at ease with the decisions made about money and spending.

Milestones
Decide on timelines by when you want to have achieved certain goals, and put together plans to do so. These could include building your own home, having children, and so on. As time progresses, you may need to re-evaluate these goals and change them a little. That is perfectly acceptable as long as you remain focussed and yet flexible.

Photo Credit: Christelle Rall