‘Life-making or risk taking’?:

When discussing couples involved in small businesses, many commentaries portray romanticised ‘in love-in business’ accounts of couples working together on entrepreneurial projects. Little is known, however, about the ways in which venture creation is constructed between co-habiting couples. Neither is it reported, except for negative conceptions of ‘life-style’ businesses, how co-habiting couples negotiate their life-making aspirations with risk-taking activities associated with business venturing. In this article, field work material is drawn from 26 co-preneurial situations to develop a typology of co-preneurship using ownership and management structural dimensions. This typology is illustrated with different types of life style businesses to demonstrate the various ways in which work and personal relationships are organised around a small business. Consideration is also given to the economic assessments and ‘market work’ that give rise to family entrepreneurship. This focus is important for taking account of the increasing numbers of couples who combine their skills and labour with a spouse or co-habiting partner in order to develop or (re-position an existing) business venture.