If he closes the LLC, then perhaps there is a way for you to recover the work you did by taking over the Shopify site, and operate it yourself. If you make it work, and wants back in, charge him $10K for a small minority share on your terms. Or not, tell him to get screwed. Your choice.
If you are losing that much profit from your laziness, then it makes perfect sense to hire someone to handle it for you. Even if you pay them ridiculous salary of $100K a year, it would be well worth it.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad was mine. People talk it down these days, but at the time it offered a perspective that wasn’t heard much. I had wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was a teenager, but Rich Dad, Poor man inspired me to actually do it.
Keep in mind my favorite quote, by Teddt Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
You aren’t a failed entrepreneur, you just haven’t succeeded yet. 35 is still very young. Most successful business people took several times at bat before hitting a home run. You have time for many more times at the plate. Ignore those booing from the stands, who are rooting for you to fail. They are a sad, pathetic losers, who want you to be a sad pathetic loser, too. Focus on those who are cheering for you.
Everything in the corporate world is about profit. These companies have studied the situation very closely, and if they believed that spending on better, or more expensive, ingredients would lead to an increase in profits, they wouldn’t hesitate to put the money into that direction.
What they have figured out is that money spent on marketing does more than just sell the specific product, it also builds and/or reinforces the overall brand. By creating a brand that consumers learn to trust, it helps them sell products that may be far removed from the actual advertised product.
For instance, Annhauser-Busch spends zillions on Miller Beer, but by reinforcing the brand through marketing/ advertising, if a staunch Miller consumer decides he wants to start buying a cheaper beer, or he wants to cut calories by switching to a Lite beer, he is more likely to stay within the A-B family of products before switching to a whole other brand.
Your welcome.
And supply chain issues, that was a big one for a while.
You don’t emphasize the failures, you emphasize the experience you gained, and the skills you perfected. If they ask about the closings, you didnt make mistakes, you died heroically on the field of battle. Blame it on market forces, consolidation of larger competition, etc. Blame it on Amazon. And Covid.
This is exactly what I would do. Hopefully the new owner takes it to levels you weren’t prepared for, and you end up making nearly the same revenue from it without working.
You’re young enough that you could take a portion of the money from the sale of the business and start something new, grow that, and sell it in 5-10 years, also retaining a small equity position. Then do it again. And again.
By the time you retire early at 50-55, you could have significant passive income from multiple businesses, as well as substantial savings, stock, and real estate holdings, and have the retirement of your dreams.