Hi everyone,

31 years old, no kids.

I own a small business, and have received offers in the region of £750k. Plus cash in the business would give me a total equity value of around £900k on exit.

I started it 5 years ago now, with the dream that one day it could be sold. Well that day has come and I’m in a very fortunate position of having 3 companies submitting offers.

But, instead of feeling excitement, I feel a sense of dread that I’m doing the wrong thing. This business has been everything for me for 5 years. At points I have genuinely thought it would end up killing me and through the toughest days and weeks the thought of the end goal was often what kept me going. So not to be feeling a huge rush of excitement and relief right now is a surprise to me.

I have 2 options.

  • Exit the business and take the money. in this situation I would invest the profits in property and lead a considerably lower stress, yet comfortable lifestyle.

  • The second option is reinvest our profits and try and take it to the next level. This would invoicing recruiting, advertisement and investment in our general operations. I’d be committing to another 2 - 5 years and going back in balls deep. Obviously the risk here is we dramatically lower our profitability by doing so and fail to scale any further. I worry we may then miss what could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to sell a business for decent money.

Not really sure what I’m expecting to get by posting this, but if anyone has thoughts or has sold a business themselves, did you experience this? Did you regret it post sale? All advice appreciated.

  • hejnfelt@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    life is long, depending on your age, you may find yourself with a change of mind after a few years. If you’re hoping to settle down after this deal, you might be better off trying to raise company value to 2-3M which is possible to live off of long term with dividend investing and a stable portfolio.

    • TheKingOfSwing777@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      900k pounds is a lot though. You can get by with much less in Europe. I would say this is already equivalent to 1.8M USD in terms of lifestyle.

      • travelguy23@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        It’s not a lot in the UK if you want to live in London. A nice 1-bed apartment could cost £500-600k. At age 31, that doesn’t leave enough left over for a comfortable life.

        Even buying a cheaper place somewhere doesn’t leave enough left over at such ayoung age. It’s more than the vast majority have but it’s not enough to retire on.

        • gamingroomguru@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Buy a house for £200k, left with £700k with 4% withdrawal rate is £28k a year with no mortgage seems pretty good to me.

          • travelguy23@alien.topBEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            The 4% rule has never been tested over such a long period of time. It’s also based on past results.

            But it’s not bad. But 200k on a house in the UK will get a below-average house. If that works for you, that’s fine. It won’t work for most people. £28k ayear in the UK would be pretty grim.

            But you could do the above and get a job, so that woukd be a much better life.

            But if living in London, it’s not even enough for a nice homein a nice area.

        • squiffythewombat@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          exactly, £900k in the UK sounds like alot but it really isnt, interest alone on it would be sub £30k once you factor in capital gains etc.

          • TheKingOfSwing777@alien.topBEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            That’s the median household income in the UK as of 2020, which is about half of what it is in the US, which is where I came up with my ratio.