A Panel Study of Copreneurs in Business: Who Enters, Continues, and Exits?

Data from the 1997 and 2000 panels of the National Family Business Surveys were used to examine continuance in copreneurial business relationships. Three groups, copreneurs who continued as a team from 1997 to 2000, coprenpreneurs in 1997 who discontinued by 2000, and couples who became copreneurs between 1997 and 2000, were compared on various characteristics. Findings indicate that those starting copreneurial business relationships were more likely to be older, more educated, and running larger, more successful businesses. Those who discontinued the copreneurial business relationship during the three years of the survey had lower levels of education and success, both financially and in terms of number of people employed, than the other groups.