Rocky Road Paul LaRoe describes his company startup as typical, at least for the early 1980s. He was 26, with two years of marriage under his belt, and a love for remodeling. He set out in Ann Arbor, Mich., with a truck, some tools, and not much in the way of a business plan.
As jobs came in, paperwork piled up, and LaRoe looked to his wife for help. But what seemed like a natural and easy transition to him would turn out to be anything but.
To hear LaRoe tell it, the plan seemed almost doomed from the beginning. For starters, he didn’t put his wife on the payroll. As he now points out, if you don’t put a value on the job, chances are your spouse won’t either. Eventually, LaRoe did put his wife on salary, but the damage was done. “It was just a job to her — an obligation,” he says. “She didn’t share the vision.”
The couple had two kids by then, a son and a daughter, and his wife was dividing her time between taking care of the home and family, a second job, and her work for LaRoe Remodeling. In that order. Working took away from her having a life of her own, LaRoe says, and the resentment continued to build.
“I told her I’d be making $100,000 a year one day, and she laughed at me,” LaRoe recalls. “She didn’t see me doing it.” Despite the disconnect, LaRoe kept doing what he knew best: work. “I made no separation between work and home,” he admits. “Business was my life. Family was down maybe fifth on my priority list.”
The couple divorced four years ago, after 24 years of marriage. LaRoe remarried a childhood acquaintance two years later. Neither has any aspirations for her (a schoolteacher) to get involved in the company.
LaRoe’s 27-year-old son Brian — after working off and on for his dad during his early teens — is now the company’s production coordinator and estimator. In a familiar twist, Brian’s wife also joined the staff, as office manager. LaRoe says he and his son talked seriously about the decision. In the end, her strong skill set, managerial experience, and three open minds won out.
“I work hard to make sure Brian and his wife have a better working relationship than his mom and I had,” LaRoe says. “They just got back from a week’s vacation and didn’t talk about work once.”
Twice As Nice Remodeling Designs has double the fun. The 14-year-old design/build company in Day-ton, Ohio, started as an equal partnership between two married couples, Mike and Joan Cordonnier and Erich and Kelly Eggers.
Not only were the four friends, they had the right education mix. The two husbands had engineering degrees; Joan had one in business; and Kelly, communications. Each assumed a suitable role: Kelly handles marketing; Joan manages finances; Erich oversees sales and production; and Mike designs.
The owners credit the company’s success— REMODELING Big 50, Gold National Remodeling Quality Award, Professional Remodeler‘s “101 Best Companies to Work For” — to such core values as constant communication, honesty, and trust. Weekly officer meetings keep the others current on everyone’s progress. When it comes to decisions, majority rules.
Mike also points to a balance in personalities. “One person from each couple has a stronger personality,” he says. “Erich and Joan each are stronger-willed than Kelly or I. We are lucky to be blessed with that balance in each couple.”
Another core value: Work should be enjoyable.
“For me, working with my husband and two best friends makes work a whole lot more fun,” Joan says. “There may be other ways to make more money — like having one couple or even owner — but there would also be more stress. We like things just the way they are.”