Business Marketing Magazine Summer 2017 January 2016 Creating Clear Businesses | Page 18

Karl Gretz Marriage Karl Gretz and Business How Divorces kill your business By Karl F. Gretz, PhD You probably already know that up to 87 percent of all entrepreneurs fail out of business within the first three years. 17 This occurs for any number of reasons, including: lack of funding, poor organization, poor product choice, loss of interest, etc. However, you might be surprised to learn that a great many entrepreneurs fail out of business because of marital / family problems – their own, a partner’s or an employee’s. Every year thousands of hardworking entrepreneurs lose their business when they, or a key member of their team, divorces and leaves the enterprise. If you know someone who has gone www.businessmarketingmag.com through a divorce, you already have a pretty good idea of the emotional, financial and physical toll it can take. However, have you ever considered the impact of that divorce upon the divorcees’ quality and quantity of work during and after the divorce? This costs industry billions of dollars each year in errors and lost productivity. While divorce is a serious problem for large corporations, it can be catastrophic for a startup. There are several reasons why divorce is so prevalent among entrepreneurs, including: feelings of alienation and abandonment by the spouse and family due to the long work hours needed to get the new enterprise up and running. Occasionally, it is the result of infidelity resulting from long hours