It's no secret that the demands of starting a small business can take their toll on your home life. The first few pages of Google for "entrepreneur personal relationships" makes that perfectly clear:

Well then. Those headlines don't paint such a pretty picture, do they? Through trial and error you can learn how to be an entrepreneur, or you can learn from what successful entrepreneurs have to say.

Clearly, balance is not considered one of the defining characteristics of a good entreprenuer, but perhaps it should be. No doubt, 24/7 work requirements and a passion (that may sometimes border on obsession) can be difficult to balance against the focus and presence required to maintain a healthy relationship.

For a deeper look at how real small business owners are dealing with these very real challenges we went straight to the source. We asked for tips, challenges and lessons learned.