"Mom and pop" shops, SOHOs (small office/home office) and young infopreneurial couples (such as, Ben & Mena Trott at Six Apart or Xochi & Michael Birch at Bebo) are all thriving as more couples than ever before are finding ways to work together. Such couple-owned businesses have their share of rewards--and challenges--as we (meaningfulWork.com co-founders Gail Terry Grimes and Claude Whitmyer) well know. To help others meet the challenges and make the most of the rewards, we have adapted the Future Search methodology of large-group facilitation (developed by Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff) as a planning tool for couples and have made it available here.

We call it Planning to Stay Together.

The process takes place across three days and includes five sessions and nine major learning activities. The process usually starts on a Friday afternoon (Day 1) and concludes by the early afternoon of Sunday (Day 3). This event can easily be combined with a stay at a resort hotel or spa for vacation and company retreat combined.

The learning and planning activites include:

• a review of events and trends in the past that have brought the couple to where they are today
• examination of the implications of what they learn for the work they want to do together in the future
• creation of a map of the trends affecting them and the business in the present
• identification of which of those trends is likely to have the greatest impact on their future together in business
• sharing what, if anything, each of them is currently thinking or doing about these impactful trends
• coming to agreement about what they may want to do about them in the future
• developing a vision of the future that can be channeled into meaningful, specific actions
• indentfying and confirming their common ground agreements about all this
• identifying specific, needed actions based on the uncovered common ground
• agreeing to who will do what and by when
• committing to take these action steps

A Planning to Stay Together retreat results in an increased awareness of the need for business and marketing plans and serves as a great foundation for their completion.

Entrepreneurial couples report especially dramatic results from joining us for this three-day private retreat that culminates in a comprehensive action plan for their own future.

To express your interest in Planning to Stay Together, please telephone Gail Terry Grimes at (415) 824-7726 or send an email to gail[at]futureu[dot]com. Couples of all orientations are welcome.