Since starting a residential- and commercial-painting business together in 2008, Karen and Don VanGordon have sometimes clashed when the strain of plunging income, long hours and cramped home-office quarters become too much to bear.

'We were stepping on each other's business all the time,' with each criticizing the other's work styles, says Ms. VanGordon, co-owner of CertaPro Painters in McKinney, Texas. That's when they break out their stress-busting weapons: a stash of foam balls they keep on hand to bombard each other or play catch.

'You have to lighten up, and remember at the end of the day that no business is worth sacrificing a relationship,' Ms. VanGordon says.

The VanGordons are among many couples who once led separate work lives but -- often for reasons related to the recession -- decided to go into business together. Suddenly, they're forced to figure out how to keep their marriages healthy while working to keep their businesses afloat.

About 8% of small businesses started recently in the U.S. are co-owned by husbands and wives, according to a survey by the Kansas City, Mo.-based Kauffman Foundation, which funds entrepreneurship education and development. That number is based on the responses of 2,606 companies that started in 2004 and were still operating in 2008.

Financial stress, long hours and pet peeves can undermine a marriage in such setups. Couples say they have to draw firm boundaries among work and marital roles, schedule weekends away whenever possible, and, above all, keep a sense of humor. A few couples say working together has drawn them closer. A look at a few successful couples shows how they make it work.

Giving his wife a performancereview is something Jim Larson would have preferred to avoid, but he felt it was necessary after he and his wife Janelle opened their Units Mobile Storage container business near Milwaukee, Wis., he says. Worried that Ms. Larson wasn't making enough sales to incoming callers, Jim started hanging around outside her home-office door, listening. He noticed she sounded nervous at first when customers called, says Mr. Larson, former co-owner of a mortgagebanking firm that he and his partners closed in 2008. She seemed to gain confidence after a minute or two.

When he asked Ms. Larson for a meeting, it was his turn to be nervous. 'I was ready to throw up,' he says. 'That is a really difficult conversation to have.' He told her she had to increase sales, adding, 'I think you need to start communicating at the beginning of your conversations like you sound at the end,' he says.

Ms. Larson wasn't surprised. 'Like I didn't see him hiding outside my door?' she says, laughing. 'To be honest, it's harder to take criticism from your spouse than from a boss. But it was true. We weren't closing sales,' she says. Soon, 'I found my voice,' and telephone sales began rising.

The Larsons draw boundaries among roles. At work, Mr. Larson handles finances, operations and outside sales, and Ms. Larson manages customer service and phone sales. At home, they step back into their marital roles and have their usual husband-and-wife conversations. 'There is Janelle who is my wife, and Janelle who is my business partner,' Mr. Larson says. They hash out problems during long daily walks together with their dog.

Successful couples 'keep a clear separation of the roles they play in each relationship,' says Doug Wilder, president of Wilder Business Success Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla., coaching firm. 'There is a separate rule book for each.'

In the pressure cooker of running a small business, spouses often discover differences they didn't know they had. Monte and Elizabeth Winterhalter had no idea their management styles would clash until they began working side-by-side in their new business, a Red Mango frozen yogurt shop in Arlington, Va. He was laid off in 2009 from his longtime job as a retailing executive, and she quit her teaching job amid looming school-budget cuts.

Their first few weeks were tense. After 34 years as a retailing executive, Mr. Winterhalter says, he thinks like a manager: 'I don't like to mop the floor' but prefer to supervise others. Ms. Winterhalter says she likes to jump in and perform tasks herself: 'I like to mop the floor, and I think I can do a better job' than many employees. Fueling the tension, they were so busy after the shop opened, with lines of customers stretching out into the street, that both were working from 6:30 a.m. until 11 p.m. 'We did kind of run into each other,' Mr. Winterhalter says.

The solution: 'Divide and conquer,' he says. They split the workday, with Mr. Winterhalter working days handling scheduling and payroll for their 16 employees, and Ms. Winterhalter running the store from 5 p.m. to closing. Despite the stress, both agree running the business has brought them closer. It 'has given us a purpose together,' she says.

Many couples find they are wired so differently that they clash on the job. It is important 'to recognize that each has certain strengths and weaknesses, and set up the other for success, not failure,' Mr. Wilder says.

Sue Shellenbarger

• income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)
• healthy [´helθi] a.健康的 (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• survey [´sə:vei] vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量 (初中英语单词)
• foundation [faun´deiʃən] n.建立；基金；地基 (初中英语单词)
• stress [stres] n.强调；压力 vt.强调 (初中英语单词)
• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
• performance [pə´fɔ:məns] n.履行；行为；工作 (初中英语单词)
• review [ri´vju:] v.&n.复习；回顾；检查 (初中英语单词)
• nervous [´nə:vəs] a.神经的；神经过敏的 (初中英语单词)
• beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)
• criticism [´kritisizəm] n.批评；评论(文) (初中英语单词)
• customer [´kʌstəmə] n.顾客，买主，主顾 (初中英语单词)
• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
• running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
• management [´mænidʒmənt] n.管理；处理；经营 (初中英语单词)
• frozen [´frəuzn] freeze 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• manager [´mænidʒə] n.经理；管理人；干事 (初中英语单词)
• solution [sə´lu:ʃən] n.解答；解决；溶解 (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)
• lighten [´laitn] v.减轻；点亮；启发 (高中英语单词)
• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)
• decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
• kansas [´kænzəs] n.堪萨斯(州) (高中英语单词)
• schedule [´ʃedju:l] n.目录；清单；一览表 (高中英语单词)
• storage [´stɔ:ridʒ] n.贮存；存储器 (高中英语单词)
• hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
• mortgage [´mɔ:gidʒ] a.&vt.抵押 (高中英语单词)
• separation [,sepə´reiʃən] n.分离；分开；分居 (高中英语单词)
• differently [´difrentli] ad.不同地，有差别地 (高中英语单词)
• container [kən´teinə] n.容器；箱，匣 (英语四级单词)
• banking [´bæŋkiŋ] n.银行业 (英语四级单词)
• tension [´tenʃən] n.紧张；压力；拉力 (英语四级单词)
• undermine [,ʌndə´main] vt.在...下面掘地道 (英语六级单词)
• spouse [spauz] n.配偶 (英语六级单词)
• supervise [´su:pəvaiz, ´sju:-] v.管理，监督 (英语六级单词)