Major life decisions ahead…
July 19, 2013 4:38 PM Subscribe
My wife and I are at a crossroads, in a good way. We have a few very interesting opportunities, and each carries its own pros and cons. Please help us consider our options.
Three years ago we moved to a new city (in Canada) so she could take an interesting job opportunity. The deal at the time was that we would come here for her job, and I would go full time self-employed to see if I could make it work as a graphic designer and photographer. Fast forward three years, and my work has eclipsed hers in terms of income. At the same time, she has grown tired of her job, and is definitely ready for a change. She has been been helping as a second shooter in the photography realm, and our current plan was to have her quit in September and come on full time with the photography business. She's way more organized than me, and is more of a people person, so I know in my heart that having her around could mean incredibly good things for our business. We've talked about the fact that we would need to grow it aggressively to support a dual income, but I don't really doubt that we could succeed at that.
The medium-sized city we live in is very much a boom town, a little bit remote, and there are lots of opportunities. When we moved here, I thought it would be better for me to have multiple irons in the fire, so I setup parallel businesses offering photography on one side, and design/communications work on the other. For the first year or two, the design projects provided the bulk of my income, but in the last year the photography has really taken off, and I have been happy to focus on it and let the design take a backseat. Part of this is because I love photo work a bit more than design, and part of it is that design carries all kinds of overhead work that makes it more complicated. Design clients want to come back forever when they need updates to their site or materials. As a sole-proprietor, this just means I'm on call 24/7. Photo work is much more a one-time deal, and tends to pay better for the hours involved.
This brings me to the real dilemma:
A local marketing and design company (that I interviewed with before we moved here) has been aware of my work for these past three years and has recently reached out to open a dialogue about hiring me in a senior role with them. This role is very much focused on the creative direction side of my skill set, and offers a number of things we don't have now: benefits, big clients, an ambitious team, support staff, a good salary, flexible hours, etc. I am extremely interested in this opportunity. They are more than willing to let my photo business continue on the side, but understandably would require me to fold up my design work. This doesn't bother me, but I do realize there should be value placed on this, perhaps as a one-time signing bonus. As part of this discussion, I brought up the possibility of equity: ie. I become a partner. Surprisingly, they were open to that as an option. So, with all of that said, I see three major possibilities:
A - My wife and I go full time on our photo business, and grow it to become a preeminent local studio. This gives us our own flexibility, hours, and payoff, but we carry the risk.
B - I take a salaried position with this company. I get benefits, flexible hours, ample holidays, staff to manage, cool projects, and the ability to focus on one major role (ie. I no longer have to worry about sales, spreadsheets, blah blah blah). My wife gets to grow into taking my place as the main driver of our photo business, and we grow it on the side as much as we want to. In 2-3 years we could look at our options again, and I might be able to take my skills into a job in any number of cities, or we could move our photo business somewhere else.
C - I take a partnership role in this company. I get benefits, a lower salary, reduced holidays, but a say in the direction of this ambitiously growing company, and a share in equity. Of course, as a partner, my role and responsibilities would be greatly increased, and I would have to commit to this direction wholeheartedly, for several years at minimum. This would also mean committing to this location for several years. I never would have thought I would have the opportunity to become a partner in a company of this size and potential, at least not so quickly and surprisingly. Although a big part of me is not looking for that right now, another part of me recognizes this as a very, very rare opportunity. Long term, I believe this option carries the most likelihood of huge monetary gain, but of course carries a lot of inherent risk too. And in the short term, it means more hours and responsibility, less salary, and much more grunt work. I really like the other partners, and believe in their ambitions for the company. I also bring a valuable perspective to those ambitions, something that has become clear in our meetings to date.
I'll close by adding a few more complicating factors:
1) We want to have kids in the next couple years.
2) We want to make travel a part of our yearly life, something most easily done under options A and B. Ideally, we would go off for a month or three every year and see other parts of the world.
3) We have wanted the flexibility to be able to change geographic locations within a couple of years. We never meant to be here more than a couple years, but have found that we like the community a lot. That said, we still yearn to change geographies sometime.
4) Financial security is becoming one of the most important goals of mine, especially as we move into having a family. We're in our early 30s, and have only started seriously saving this past year.
5) I optimistically believe we can succeed in any of these paths.
6) We have a mortgage on our house (our only debt), in my wife's name, and are looking at getting a condo in my name for my mom to live in. Getting this second mortgage might be difficult, but is a high priority. My Mom's fixed income will pay the actual mortgage month to month.
So, with all of that said, I have any number of questions:
What would you do? What else should I consider? What else should I be thinking about in negotiations with this company? Any other general advice? I don't know much about the world of equity, dividends, partnership, or where the big payoffs would come under the ownership situation. The partners have plans to grow the company, and are likely looking to invest profits back into it in the short term in order to maximize profit in the long term. What concrete financials/plans etc. should I be asking to see before deciding on becoming a partner? What else should I learn, know, or ask?
If you can't tell, I am pretty conflicted about all of this, and am open to any and all opinion, advice, perspectives. They are all good options, in their own ways. It's a great problem to have, and I am very grateful to be in this situation.
Thanks Mefites!
Three years ago we moved to a new city (in Canada) so she could take an interesting job opportunity. The deal at the time was that we would come here for her job, and I would go full time self-employed to see if I could make it work as a graphic designer and photographer. Fast forward three years, and my work has eclipsed hers in terms of income. At the same time, she has grown tired of her job, and is definitely ready for a change. She has been been helping as a second shooter in the photography realm, and our current plan was to have her quit in September and come on full time with the photography business. She's way more organized than me, and is more of a people person, so I know in my heart that having her around could mean incredibly good things for our business. We've talked about the fact that we would need to grow it aggressively to support a dual income, but I don't really doubt that we could succeed at that.
The medium-sized city we live in is very much a boom town, a little bit remote, and there are lots of opportunities. When we moved here, I thought it would be better for me to have multiple irons in the fire, so I setup parallel businesses offering photography on one side, and design/communications work on the other. For the first year or two, the design projects provided the bulk of my income, but in the last year the photography has really taken off, and I have been happy to focus on it and let the design take a backseat. Part of this is because I love photo work a bit more than design, and part of it is that design carries all kinds of overhead work that makes it more complicated. Design clients want to come back forever when they need updates to their site or materials. As a sole-proprietor, this just means I'm on call 24/7. Photo work is much more a one-time deal, and tends to pay better for the hours involved.
This brings me to the real dilemma:
A local marketing and design company (that I interviewed with before we moved here) has been aware of my work for these past three years and has recently reached out to open a dialogue about hiring me in a senior role with them. This role is very much focused on the creative direction side of my skill set, and offers a number of things we don't have now: benefits, big clients, an ambitious team, support staff, a good salary, flexible hours, etc. I am extremely interested in this opportunity. They are more than willing to let my photo business continue on the side, but understandably would require me to fold up my design work. This doesn't bother me, but I do realize there should be value placed on this, perhaps as a one-time signing bonus. As part of this discussion, I brought up the possibility of equity: ie. I become a partner. Surprisingly, they were open to that as an option. So, with all of that said, I see three major possibilities:
A - My wife and I go full time on our photo business, and grow it to become a preeminent local studio. This gives us our own flexibility, hours, and payoff, but we carry the risk.
B - I take a salaried position with this company. I get benefits, flexible hours, ample holidays, staff to manage, cool projects, and the ability to focus on one major role (ie. I no longer have to worry about sales, spreadsheets, blah blah blah). My wife gets to grow into taking my place as the main driver of our photo business, and we grow it on the side as much as we want to. In 2-3 years we could look at our options again, and I might be able to take my skills into a job in any number of cities, or we could move our photo business somewhere else.
C - I take a partnership role in this company. I get benefits, a lower salary, reduced holidays, but a say in the direction of this ambitiously growing company, and a share in equity. Of course, as a partner, my role and responsibilities would be greatly increased, and I would have to commit to this direction wholeheartedly, for several years at minimum. This would also mean committing to this location for several years. I never would have thought I would have the opportunity to become a partner in a company of this size and potential, at least not so quickly and surprisingly. Although a big part of me is not looking for that right now, another part of me recognizes this as a very, very rare opportunity. Long term, I believe this option carries the most likelihood of huge monetary gain, but of course carries a lot of inherent risk too. And in the short term, it means more hours and responsibility, less salary, and much more grunt work. I really like the other partners, and believe in their ambitions for the company. I also bring a valuable perspective to those ambitions, something that has become clear in our meetings to date.
I'll close by adding a few more complicating factors:
1) We want to have kids in the next couple years.
2) We want to make travel a part of our yearly life, something most easily done under options A and B. Ideally, we would go off for a month or three every year and see other parts of the world.
3) We have wanted the flexibility to be able to change geographic locations within a couple of years. We never meant to be here more than a couple years, but have found that we like the community a lot. That said, we still yearn to change geographies sometime.
4) Financial security is becoming one of the most important goals of mine, especially as we move into having a family. We're in our early 30s, and have only started seriously saving this past year.
5) I optimistically believe we can succeed in any of these paths.
6) We have a mortgage on our house (our only debt), in my wife's name, and are looking at getting a condo in my name for my mom to live in. Getting this second mortgage might be difficult, but is a high priority. My Mom's fixed income will pay the actual mortgage month to month.
So, with all of that said, I have any number of questions:
What would you do? What else should I consider? What else should I be thinking about in negotiations with this company? Any other general advice? I don't know much about the world of equity, dividends, partnership, or where the big payoffs would come under the ownership situation. The partners have plans to grow the company, and are likely looking to invest profits back into it in the short term in order to maximize profit in the long term. What concrete financials/plans etc. should I be asking to see before deciding on becoming a partner? What else should I learn, know, or ask?
If you can't tell, I am pretty conflicted about all of this, and am open to any and all opinion, advice, perspectives. They are all good options, in their own ways. It's a great problem to have, and I am very grateful to be in this situation.
Thanks Mefites!
This is coming from someone who owns nothing but flip flops and has candy wrappers in her filing cabinet, and who is of course going on imperfect information written on the internet, but I would do 2. Unless I really, really believed in this company, really loved the work and the people, and wanted to give them my heart and soul, then I would do 3. I have no idea how these things work, but is there some way you can take a salaried position for awhile and then negotiate the partner thing again in six months to a year? Is it now or never? It seems you'd have a better idea on whether or not you want to go all in after really working there.
posted by amodelcitizen at 5:01 PM on July 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by amodelcitizen at 5:01 PM on July 19, 2013 [2 favorites]
What do you imagine your childcare situation would be? Would your wife want to do childcare fulltime? It's a hard balance when trying to run your own business.
If you would want to go the daycare route, would there be options available to meet what I imagine would be an unusual work schedule?
I think if you went the option C route, you could build a month or so of vacation hours into your contract from the outset, so traveling shouldn't be an issue.
Who knows, maybe the company will really take off, and you can go to another city in a couple of years and open the satellite office. And then another one after that.
(My bias is towards security/stability, so take it fwiw).
posted by vignettist at 5:06 PM on July 19, 2013
If you would want to go the daycare route, would there be options available to meet what I imagine would be an unusual work schedule?
I think if you went the option C route, you could build a month or so of vacation hours into your contract from the outset, so traveling shouldn't be an issue.
Who knows, maybe the company will really take off, and you can go to another city in a couple of years and open the satellite office. And then another one after that.
(My bias is towards security/stability, so take it fwiw).
posted by vignettist at 5:06 PM on July 19, 2013
D. Execute a one-year contract with the company (or design a project-based consultancy) that leads to partnership if all goes well. This approach enables you to test compatibility, discover whether partnership makes sense and gives your wife a chance to step up her engagement with the photography business. You'll have more control over your hours to help her.
Re: both of you working FT on the photography business with kids, if you're shooting lots of weddings/events the photo business will become very inconvenient as their weekend activities increase. Also you can't take them along to shoots, so you'll need to pay either a babysitter or a PA. If you go this route, maybe shift to corporate work as a way to get ready?
posted by carmicha at 5:12 PM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Re: both of you working FT on the photography business with kids, if you're shooting lots of weddings/events the photo business will become very inconvenient as their weekend activities increase. Also you can't take them along to shoots, so you'll need to pay either a babysitter or a PA. If you go this route, maybe shift to corporate work as a way to get ready?
posted by carmicha at 5:12 PM on July 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
Option B favours 2, 3, 4 and 6, and to some extent 5.
Option C directly contradicts some of your preferences. If all three options offered equal financial gain in the long run, would option C be less attractive to you? Is taking option C worth the sacrifices it might require - for reasons other than the financial potential?
Kids, your partner and what they'll plan to do: childcare? Stay at home mum? Clearly, if she plans to stop working, then a strategy focused on you being the main income earner is a good idea. Similarly, if she plans to continue working, then maximising your combined income is sensible.
Given your ages, kids are something you might not want to delay. What is your plan in the event that things DID fail? A in particular is putting all of your eggs in one basket.
For option C in particular: how will longer hours, reduced holidays, etc. affect your relationship? Especially after kids are born.
In your situation, I would choose option B.
posted by Ashlyth at 5:36 PM on July 19, 2013
Option C directly contradicts some of your preferences. If all three options offered equal financial gain in the long run, would option C be less attractive to you? Is taking option C worth the sacrifices it might require - for reasons other than the financial potential?
Kids, your partner and what they'll plan to do: childcare? Stay at home mum? Clearly, if she plans to stop working, then a strategy focused on you being the main income earner is a good idea. Similarly, if she plans to continue working, then maximising your combined income is sensible.
Given your ages, kids are something you might not want to delay. What is your plan in the event that things DID fail? A in particular is putting all of your eggs in one basket.
For option C in particular: how will longer hours, reduced holidays, etc. affect your relationship? Especially after kids are born.
In your situation, I would choose option B.
posted by Ashlyth at 5:36 PM on July 19, 2013
Option B seems like a clear winner to me - it sounds like a great choice for you given your six complicating factors. I can't think of a good reason to go with Option C, to be honest - it sounds like much more stress for less money and less flexibility. Option A would be okay, but it would require more hustle than Option B, and with Option B you still get the photography business on the side. Best of both worlds.
Option B!
posted by meggan at 6:17 PM on July 19, 2013
Option B!
posted by meggan at 6:17 PM on July 19, 2013
They are all reasonable options. I think the overriding decision is a function of your willingness to take risk and your wanting kids sooner rather than later. If kids are a priority, take the salaried job.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:47 PM on July 19, 2013
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:47 PM on July 19, 2013
looking at getting a condo in my name for my mom to live in
If you are going with option A, it will be easier to close on the condo before your wifes job ends.
A share in equity? If you were to leave the company in 5 or 10 years, how would you get that equity? Or would you just own part of a partnership that you can't sell?
posted by yohko at 7:56 AM on July 20, 2013
If you are going with option A, it will be easier to close on the condo before your wifes job ends.
A share in equity? If you were to leave the company in 5 or 10 years, how would you get that equity? Or would you just own part of a partnership that you can't sell?
posted by yohko at 7:56 AM on July 20, 2013
Putting in my vote for Option B, though I'm sure there's a lot of important detail missing here.
I like the idea of a one-year contract w/ the design agency leading up to a potential partnership in 1-3 years. Going that route without a trial period, though, sounds like it could bring disaster, or at least severe stress and discomfort.
Good luck!!
posted by nosila at 10:47 AM on July 21, 2013
I like the idea of a one-year contract w/ the design agency leading up to a potential partnership in 1-3 years. Going that route without a trial period, though, sounds like it could bring disaster, or at least severe stress and discomfort.
Good luck!!
posted by nosila at 10:47 AM on July 21, 2013
Let me tell you a story.
For the first nine tenths of my working life I was trying to work in supporting roles in the business world. It was great, and exhilarating. I got to work with amazing people and do incredible projects. It was often stressful but it was normal to me.
When I put my side business front and centre I fell in love with working for myself. There may be administrative bullshit, but it is my bullshit. My clients, good, bad, or dramatic, are my problem.I picked them, and I can give them the sack. I may not be able to find that receipt or esoteric bit of kit, but it is my fault, not the doing of an untrained temp. My business is an extension of myself and my values and aesthetics.
As I work for myself I can control my appearance and can largely live in an alternative subculture that suits my lifestyle. The sense of community here furthers business opportunities, whichI can choose or refuse based entirely on my view of the best interests of my household. Thus far, that flexibility has enabled me to find other profit centres within recession, such as teaching alternative business owners web and social media literacy.
This is just my experience, which I am sharing with my hunch that you, OP, may feel similarly about working for yourself. Never forget the independence and control you will lose if you join a firm, even as a partner. Particularly in a creative role, will you be frustrated by the dilution of your creative vision?
posted by Mistress at 11:49 AM on July 23, 2013
For the first nine tenths of my working life I was trying to work in supporting roles in the business world. It was great, and exhilarating. I got to work with amazing people and do incredible projects. It was often stressful but it was normal to me.
When I put my side business front and centre I fell in love with working for myself. There may be administrative bullshit, but it is my bullshit. My clients, good, bad, or dramatic, are my problem.I picked them, and I can give them the sack. I may not be able to find that receipt or esoteric bit of kit, but it is my fault, not the doing of an untrained temp. My business is an extension of myself and my values and aesthetics.
As I work for myself I can control my appearance and can largely live in an alternative subculture that suits my lifestyle. The sense of community here furthers business opportunities, whichI can choose or refuse based entirely on my view of the best interests of my household. Thus far, that flexibility has enabled me to find other profit centres within recession, such as teaching alternative business owners web and social media literacy.
This is just my experience, which I am sharing with my hunch that you, OP, may feel similarly about working for yourself. Never forget the independence and control you will lose if you join a firm, even as a partner. Particularly in a creative role, will you be frustrated by the dilution of your creative vision?
posted by Mistress at 11:49 AM on July 23, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Behemoth at 4:50 PM on July 19, 2013