I understand the initial focus on freedom and flexibility, it’s what draws a lot of people to start a business. But as you say, we quickly realise that to be a great team, we need clarity on what freedom looks like in practice.

The frustration you’re feeling towards the imbalance of workload, what is the deeper reasoning behind that? Is it a feeling of injustice? Being taken advantage of? You think it limits your performance?

The frustration is valid on a practical level, but I’d take time to understand the deeper reason for why it’s coming up. Then you have much more insight on how to address it. 

Have you ever had a conversation about your working structure? Do you have clear roles and responsibilities? This is key for any partnership.

Could this be positioned as a positive conversation, that you’re excited to be at the stage where you have the chance to reassess and reset to open up further opportunities?

Approaching the conversation feeling frustrated about a challenge instantly brings a negative energy. Whereas approaching it with what is POSSIBLE as a team makes the world of difference, and paves the way for a creative and collaborative conversation.  

The phrase ‘tackle it head-on’ makes me think you view it as a real challenge. And when you say you ‘don’t want to rock the boat’, is your cautiousness to approach this a result of a similar conversation leading to tension in the past?

If so, I hear you. Those experiences stick with us, but you can decide how you approach it now.

I’d also ask what your responsibility is here. If you set up the business focussed on freedom and flexibility, and you haven’t communicated how that’s evolved for you, how is your Co-Founder supposed to know?

Also, are you talking to your Co-Founder about the tasks you’re doing and distributing work, or are you taking it all on without communicating?

Are there relationships / experiences in the past when you’ve taken on the same role of being the one who does ‘more’? Do you in some way like that being part of your identity? Understand how your behaviour feeds the situation. 

Conversations about evolving as a team are a sign of commitment to long term success, they’re not a sign of disrespect. See this as an opportunity to become a greater team!

And be honest with yourself, what’s the cost of avoiding this conversation? What impact will it have on your joy and future in this business if nothing changes?