The one thing that has come out of this pandemic is that life is short and you need to make the most of it. I'm in logistics and have been for 20+ years and I'm bored of it. I changed a couple of years ago from UK logistics to air freight to see if that would help and it hasn't so I want to do something else as does my wife although she is in the medical industry. My dad did something very similar at the same age, 47, he went from a very well paid job, UK Sales Director, to the chairman of a charity close to his heart but on far less money and was never happier This may not be the ideal time but I noticed my local farm shop had come up for sale and I've always wanted to do something like that (no experience though) so have asked for the financial details so I can see if it's worth it Has anybody done anything similar or have any advice.
Seriously considering it. Apart from the odd flirtation with temporary and consulting work I've had 3 main jobs in my career: Support center manager for a consumer electronics firm. Very stressful, people management couldn't switch off at the end of the day. 9 years - redundancy Financial analyst for a city stockbroker. Bloody hard work long hours crap commute the people I worked for were the lowest of the low but the pay was good. 4 years there and redundancy as they thought they didn't need me. My replacement's mistakes in the first week cost them the equivalent of 2 years of my salary. Administration manager for a local IFA. 9-5 easy commute and it's not stressful because I don't give a crap about it anymore, but being paid half of what I was before and they're as tight as a gnat's chuff. Currently furloughed and going down to 3 days a week if I ever go back. What a few weeks away has shown me is I do need to do something. I've been enjoying DIY gardening etc. maybe there's some sort of opportunity there going forward. I really want to get back into home brewing again. The most important question to ask the sellers of the farm shop is why are they selling it? I would assume that they are experienced so unless they have a good reason to quit, why are they not able to make a commercial success of it? You'll need to solve their problems or have a unique outlook to make it successful.
I've not looked back since I dropped my dreary FD roles and became a male prositute. Given me a new lease of life.
Thanks Meister, it will be interesting to see the financials and as you say, why they are quitting. The one thing I'll say for logistics currently is that we're quite busy and I'm getting fully paid currently!
I believe I'm classed as a key worker. I've had to minimise some activities though, to clients dismay.
I’m interested to see how things go for you. I’ve considered buying or starting up a shop before. What put me off was rents. I still might do something in the future perhaps online.
My wife has never been happier since we bought our business. Yes, she has good days and bad days at work, as everyone does. The difference is working through the bad days builds for our future, not someone else's. We don't know if we're going to make it through the lockdown or not, but there's no doubt in my mind it was the right move for us to run our own business. Our main focus at the moment is limping through to re-opening so that we can ensure all of our staff have jobs on the other side. We did manage to secure very sizable grant only this morning, so the prospects of the business surviving the lockdown took a huge leap today. On top of that, the association we sourced our loan through is not only waiving our loan payments, they are paying them for us for four months, which is astoundingly generous. Buying a business right now is undoubtedly risky, but on the other hand you might be able to get one for a song precisely because of that. Make sure you do your due diligence on the financial side of things (which you already said you're working on) and get a second opinion. We ran our purchase through a business mentor who looked everything over and gave us his opinion on viability; he worked on a volunteer basis as a successful entrepreneur looking to give a hand up to the next generation, so you might find there are similar organizations like this in the UK you can pump for info. The best decision we made in our purchase was an agreement to purchase the assets of the business, not buying the whole thing as a turnkey operation. We essentially made our own company, applied for the relevant permits etc, and then transferred the assets (including the client list, business name, phone number etc.) into it. This made us a separate legal entity from the original business, which turned out to be quite important because the previous owner had a bunch of undisclosed debt which we didn't end up liable for (she still owned that). Running your own small business is a lot of work, but it can also far more rewarding then simply being an employee. Best decision we ever made, and I say that despite the uncertainty over our business future as our lockdown ticks onward.
I Would say don’t expect to earn the same sort of money which you both do at present for quite a few years, if at all, you will probably work longer hours than you do currently, with no paid holiday or sick leave etc, however your satisfaction levels at working for yourself will increase and your efforts will be for you and not somebody else! I did it myself and don’t regret it!
Thanks Teide1, Money is not the deciding factor although we still need to earn a certain amount obviously. It's more being happy in what we're doing which neither of us especially at the moment. Very early days and nothing may come of it but it has put the thought in our minds. Appreciate the reply
Really appreciate the feedback Arakel. Interesting that those who have done it on here have not regretted it
Just found this thread. As no update since April I assume you haven't jumped ship yet. With the growth in online shopping (before Covid too) I would think logistics would be a good industry to be involved with? Sounds like you were having a lockdown inspired mid-life crisis and I hope you opted to cheer yourself up by buying some leather trousers and a motorbike instead of chucking your job in!
Still in logistics, stupidly busy. Nothing came of the business opportunity but it got me thinking so would not rule it out in the future No leather trousers, they make my cheeks sweat too much
All work is shyt. You think running a shop is fun? Having to be polite to numbskull customers all day? Dealing with ruthless suppliers? Working 7 days a week as profit margins are so tight and it's not cost effective to employ staff to relieve the burden? Just find the best paying job you can with the shortest hours as close to home as possible. Some mathematical genius could come up with a formula I'm sure. (Salary+Hours Worked)/Commute = Happiness or something.
Seconded. My current job I'm on half what I was before but it's a 10 min commute rather than an hour and a half going into the city. It would take a wedge many times larger to get me going back to that grind. Currently on a reduced 3 days a week (covid issues) with the resulting further reduction down to 60% of that lower salary. That's bare minimum for me. I'm not saving but the bills are covered. Having 4 day weekends is really, really worth it. Especially as the time I need to spend assisting my aged parents is increasing. Can't see me ever going back full time now.
That formula doesn't support what you said before - it says that more hours worked would actually equal more happiness. It would be more along the lines of: Salary / (Hours Worked + Commute) = Happiness
I’ve had a similar realisation to the OP during the pandemic. Apart from 3 months or so, my entire career has been in customer service since the age of 16 - so about 15 years! I recently got promoted to a Team Leader position, and thought that was pretty much the pinnacle....but I’m not really enjoying it. Of course, working from home and having to conduct meetings, reviews and feedback sessions remotely is probably playing a part but I think I have had enough of customer service now. I’d like a change. The problem for me is I don’t really know what else I’d want to do, and what doors could open for me due to my CS experience. It’s also probably a bad time to be changing jobs. I am going to have a think over the weekend and perhaps have a look to see what is out there.
Quite right. My motto's always been 'Maximum reward for minimum effort' - too many get it the wrong way round sadly for them
Amen to that. I was in a Quarterly Board Meeting on Zoom with all our directors/investors including Goldman Sachs on Tuesday pm. I was on here throughout and managed 5 posts during the meeting albeit none while I was actually presenting.
I think you have more options than you'd think. Maybe now isn't the best time as so many others will be going for jobs but I reckon you could go into most business related jobs - Admin, Marketing, Social Media (at a lot of companies it's a lot of CS, but you get to have a bit more fun with it), HR, Sales etc.
I work in the musical instrument industry and we are currently having a very bad time of it. I expect to be furloughed for as long as possible but worry that the market will not be back in place by then and I may find myself out of a job. I'm not really sure which direction I would like to go in but I gather that there is always a demand for IT professionals. Anyone know of any IT courses/qualifications that I can pursue over the next few months in case I find myself out of work?
