Money Matters
FabulousMrs.P
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
NMR: need career advice
I am feeling a little lost and wanted your suggestions. You ladies give wonderful advice. Currently, my DH and I have no debt other than our mortgage, have a good emergency savings and while we aren't rolling on it, we are able to cover our bills and put money into savings each month in addition to our retirement contributions. We also have a 4 year old.
I graduated with honors with a BS in computer science. When I was going to school I had to work Summer's at my family's manufacturing business as part of the agreement for paying for my college. It was mostly clerical and a bit of web work. When I graduated programming jobs were scarce in my area as the large companies had over hired in that area and were laying people off at the time. In the end, I was offered a full time job at my family business and took it despite it not really using my degree. my brother also joined the business but later decided it wasn't for him and he changed careers completely.
My boss (a family member) has recently been discussing selling the business as he eventually wants to retire. He doesn't have a specific timeline...but sometimes he acts like it will be soon ( next 3 years) and sometimes he acts as though it is years away. He has told me he will do his best to protect my interests when he sells (i.e. Try to keep my job) but obviously I know there are no guarantees. My father who is also in the business tells me not to worry..as he will not sign off on anything where my loyalty and hard work to our company are not taken care of with a job or financial gains.
That said...I can't help but stress out a bit as I am the bread winner in My family. I don't make 6 figures but I make double what my husband does. I do a little bit of everything...track costs and price all out products, some I T work, fill in for all office positions (we are a small company) including accounts receivable, customer service, order entry, etc., deal with all the patent attorneys, deal with a lot of the company's sensitive data, etc. That said, I feel like If I lost my job for some reason, it would be difficult to find a new one. I feel like a jack of all trades but a master at none. I never used my degree...and while I am good at organization tracking data, calculations, managing I don't know what kind of job that would translate into. My brother keeps telling me I am highly marketable but I guess I just don't feel that confident in my marketability.
I know I would have good warning if anything happens but I can't help but worry about my ability to provide for my family long term. I have thought about taking some classes at the community college but am not sure what would be good to add to my resume...and once again...I am not sure if or wheni would need to market myself but I also don't want to bury my head in the sand.
I guess I am just feeling a little lost. I am a hard worker...worked 6 days a week until I had my daughter between my day Job and waiting tables on the weekends and since I had her I am regularly putting in 45+ hours a week in the family business.
Any words of advice would be fabulous.
Sorry so long...
I graduated with honors with a BS in computer science. When I was going to school I had to work Summer's at my family's manufacturing business as part of the agreement for paying for my college. It was mostly clerical and a bit of web work. When I graduated programming jobs were scarce in my area as the large companies had over hired in that area and were laying people off at the time. In the end, I was offered a full time job at my family business and took it despite it not really using my degree. my brother also joined the business but later decided it wasn't for him and he changed careers completely.
My boss (a family member) has recently been discussing selling the business as he eventually wants to retire. He doesn't have a specific timeline...but sometimes he acts like it will be soon ( next 3 years) and sometimes he acts as though it is years away. He has told me he will do his best to protect my interests when he sells (i.e. Try to keep my job) but obviously I know there are no guarantees. My father who is also in the business tells me not to worry..as he will not sign off on anything where my loyalty and hard work to our company are not taken care of with a job or financial gains.
That said...I can't help but stress out a bit as I am the bread winner in My family. I don't make 6 figures but I make double what my husband does. I do a little bit of everything...track costs and price all out products, some I T work, fill in for all office positions (we are a small company) including accounts receivable, customer service, order entry, etc., deal with all the patent attorneys, deal with a lot of the company's sensitive data, etc. That said, I feel like If I lost my job for some reason, it would be difficult to find a new one. I feel like a jack of all trades but a master at none. I never used my degree...and while I am good at organization tracking data, calculations, managing I don't know what kind of job that would translate into. My brother keeps telling me I am highly marketable but I guess I just don't feel that confident in my marketability.
I know I would have good warning if anything happens but I can't help but worry about my ability to provide for my family long term. I have thought about taking some classes at the community college but am not sure what would be good to add to my resume...and once again...I am not sure if or wheni would need to market myself but I also don't want to bury my head in the sand.
I guess I am just feeling a little lost. I am a hard worker...worked 6 days a week until I had my daughter between my day Job and waiting tables on the weekends and since I had her I am regularly putting in 45+ hours a week in the family business.
Any words of advice would be fabulous.
Sorry so long...
Re: NMR: need career advice
I would think with your experience (even though it doesn't use your degree) you would still be a marketable person, it is all in how you present yourself.
FYI I have a degree in Marketing/Business Administration and I'm a meeting planner that doesn't use any accounting, marketing, finance or management. Most employers are just looking for a college degree and relevant job experience.
I am curious why the family member wants to sell the business in the first place. Does he need the money for his retirement? If not, does he just want to untangle himself from the professional world?
It seems to me that you could be a likely candidate to run the whole thing.
What if the family member and your dad took these next months or years to show you the ropes you'd need to learn in an effort to groom you to take over? You're already aware of the work. You like it. You need the job. And, they can trust you not to run their enterprise into the ground.
Your family member and dad could be involved, only loosely in the background as council for you if/when you needed it.
If your family member was loosely involved, he could perhaps have a small monthly stipend from it as an income stream in retirement.
Right now, it sounds like there are a lot of "what ifs". Nothing may happen to your job for years. Or nothing may happen to your job at all, even if your family member sells it, the new owners may want to keep you on.
And what if you ended up getting a new job...and then got laid off in a year. I had that happen to me...except it was only 8 months. Granted, I do work in a project-focused industry, so layoffs are not uncommon. But still, job security is largely a thing of the past, for most job types and industries.
If I were you, I'd just stay put until your family member actively puts the business up for sale or at least starts taking steps in that direction. I suspect that would be a lengthy process anyway. Perhaps build up your all's e-fund to cover 6-12 months of bare living expenses, for some added security. Would you all be able to move to another area, if the job market isn't great where you all currently are? That would give a lot more flexibility.
What I would do, since it sounds like you have a couple years to figure this out, is really think about what you would like to do. Like, think about what parts of your job you really enjoy, and which ones you don't like that much. Then, seek out additional training for the parts you enjoy.
I know for me, I used to have a position like yours, sort of did everything. After the real estate downturn I had to think about what I liked about it and what I didn't, and now I'm in a position that encompasses a lot of what I liked when I did everything.
He's very likely to have trouble selling this business without shopping it out to a bank or some other buy/sell firm. Depending on the value, he might even have trouble finding a bank that will put the business up for auction for him. A lot of banks start at the $20-$25M range and won't shop smaller businesses.
Even smaller transactions will take a couple of months to get all of the documents in place. I have never seen an acquisition of a business close in under 45 days from the time the letter of intent is signed. Not saying it's not possible, but it would be pretty unusual if both sides are represented by counsel. Even a 60 day timeline is pretty dang fast. Most of the transactions I work on take 90-120 days to close (some longer).
If your boss is not a total moron about it, there is a lot that the seller can demand in terms of employee retention, etc.
I would probably stick it out and see what happens. I do a lot of M&A for closely held businesses, and it is unusual for a buyer to come in and fire every employee of the company. I mean, these are the people who have been making the business succeed. Now could this happen? Sure, anything is possible. But it's not terribly likely, and I would not jump ship 3 years early based on that possibility.
Even if everybody is terminated, there are things the seller can demand to make the transition smoother for everybody. I once worked on a transaction where the secretary who worked at the front desk was so beloved that the seller negotiated for her to get something like 10x her annual salary when the business was sold. And she kept her job! It was so much money that it actually qualified as a golden parachute for tax purposes.
Obviously when businesses are sold it can be very stressful, and there are no guarantees in life. But I don't think I would leave just yet.
Sorry, off topic from the OP!
How is your new job going, @julieanne912?