Behind many successful contracting companies is a partnership that rarely appears on a project plan. It is the partnership between a husband and wife who decide to build a business the same way they build a life: with shared risk, shared decisions, and a shared reputation on the line.
When both partners commit to the same enterprise, the company often gains a level of stability that can be difficult to replicate with outside management alone. Mike Forness, a New Smyrna Beach landscape contractor, has experienced that dynamic firsthand. He started his design-build company the same year he got married, and more than two decades later, the business and the marriage have continued to grow together.
Why Two Owners Can Be Stronger Than One
Running a contracting business requires constant attention. There are estimates to prepare, crews to schedule, clients to reassure, and invoices to manage, often all within the same day. A single owner carries all of those responsibilities, which can make even small issues harder to resolve before they become bigger problems.
A husband-and-wife team can divide those pressures based on each person’s strengths. One partner may naturally lead field operations, client consultations, and the technical side of production, while the other manages finances, organization, and communication. The goal isn’t to have two people doing the same job. It is to create two complementary roles that together support every stage of the business, from the first conversation with a client to the final payment.
Complementary Roles Built on Trust
For Coastal Landscapes of Volusia, the company he founded in 2001, that structure is clear. Mike manages the design-build work he has spent his career refining, guiding each project from the initial client consultation through final installation. His wife, Stephanie, serves as the company’s office manager and marketing director, keeping the operation organized and maintaining a consistent message with clients and the community.
This division of labor allows each partner to lead in their area of expertise while trusting the other to do the same. In a business where decisions often need to be made quickly, that level of confidence becomes a meaningful advantage.
Trust is the foundation that makes the arrangement work. When two owners are also spouses, there is little uncertainty about whether a decision has full leadership support. If a client changes a project scope or a supplier misses a delivery, both partners are already invested in the outcome and can respond without waiting through multiple layers of approval.
In contracting, where schedules can change quickly and small delays can affect an entire project, that adaptability is a genuine competitive advantage.
What Mike Forness and Coastal Landscapes Show About Longevity
Remaining in business for more than twenty years in residential construction requires more than strong craftsmanship. It requires consistency, adaptability, and an operational approach that can withstand changing market conditions.
Mike brings more than two decades in high-end residential landscaping to every project, working on riverfront and oceanfront properties where salt air, drainage challenges, and shifting soil conditions leave little room for shortcuts. His vast technical experience has helped shape the company’s reputation and approach to quality.
The other part of the equation is the operational foundation behind the work. Accurate estimating, organized scheduling, and clear client communication are often the less visible parts of a successful contracting business, but they are what determine whether a project stays on track.
When one partner protects the schedule and finances while the other focuses on craftsmanship and execution, the company can take on complex projects without losing control of the details. Long-term success in contracting often comes down to maintaining that balance.
Keeping the Business and the Marriage Healthy
Working with a spouse brings unique challenges, and couples who succeed in business together usually acknowledge them openly.
One of the biggest risks is allowing the business to follow you everywhere, turning every conversation at home into another meeting about deadlines, budgets, or client decisions. Couples who build lasting businesses together often learn to set boundaries around when they discuss work and when they step away from the company entirely.
Clear roles also make that balance easier to maintain. When each partner owns a specific area of the business, there is less overlap, fewer unnecessary disagreements, and greater confidence in daily decisions.
Mike Forness and his wife have created that structure by letting each person lead in their own area. The same clarity that keeps the company organized also strengthens the relationship behind it. Respecting each other’s expertise benefits more than business operations. It also creates a healthier partnership outside of work.
Roots in the Community
A family-owned contracting company connects to its community in a way larger firms often cannot replicate. Its reputation is personal, built through years of relationships, referrals, and the trust earned from one client to the next.
That connection has helped make Mike a familiar name in the New Smyrna Beach area he has worked in for years, and where word of mouth remains one of the most important drivers of local business.
For the Forness family, supporting the community extends beyond the projects they complete. The company has long sponsored the local high school boys and girls soccer clubs, reflecting the family’s commitment to the area and their belief in investing in local youth programs.
For a husband and wife who have built both a business and a life in the same community, giving back is a natural extension of the values that shaped the company from the beginning.
The Takeaway for Family-Owned Businesses
The strongest husband-and-wife contracting teams are not successful simply because two people share ownership. They succeed because they create a partnership built on complementary skills, mutual trust, clear responsibilities, and a shared commitment to the business and the community around them.
Those qualities help family-owned companies stay steady through market changes, competitive pressure, and the everyday challenges of running a business. Coastal Landscapes of Volusia shows that a company built on a genuine partnership can develop an advantage no organizational chart can create.
A strong business partnership does not happen by accident. It comes from understanding each other’s strengths, respecting different areas of expertise, and working toward the same long-term vision.
Michael W. Forness is a design-build landscaping specialist based in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, with more than two decades of experience in high-end residential landscaping. He owns Coastal Landscapes of Volusia and works alongside his wife, Stephanie, the company’s office manager and marketing director. A University of Central Florida graduate and Florida Certified Building Contractor, he spends his free time as an avid offshore fisherman and surfer along Florida’s east coast.
