A bad marriage isn’t the only thing that ends with a divorce. According to a new survey, sometimes a good business can go bust, too.

The new survey conducted by Springfield-based insurer MassMutual found nearly half of the respondents who experienced divorce said the break-up had a negative impact on their businesses. Larger companies were more likely than smaller ones to have "divorce-proofing" plans either already in place or in the works.

Despite that risk, most business owners – 60 percent – have no plan in place to "divorce-proof" their companies, according to MassMutual’s research study, "FamilyPreneurship: What Every Entrepreneur Should Know before Starting a Business with a Family Member."

"Everybody likes to think that marriage is forever, but unfortunately it often isn’t. Even if they think divorce will never happen to them, business owners owe it to themselves, their families and their employees to put a plan in place, because all of them are depending on the business for their livelihoods," said Beth Wood, an assistant vice president of the Life Co. Marketing division of MassMutual, and a former family business owner herself.

"If a company is owned by a couple, a divorce can paralyze the business and create divided allegiances among employees and customers," said Wood. "It could also jeopardize a family’s wealth and the owners’ retirements," she said. "Often, a divorce can force the owners to sell the business, with proceeds being divided by the parties involved."

Owners can reduce the likelihood that a divorce could hurt their businesses by arranging a buy-sell agreement that can be triggered by certain events, such as divorce, a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement or trusts.