I have truly stopped caring.

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Raise your prices. 

See my post last week. I’m in the process of closing my business.

You sound completely frustrated and burnt out. You might even be in denial. I was in denial all of last year and kind of just closed my eyes to the truth (and accumulated debt). I was doing some of the same stuff: handing out random refunds and ignoring annoying customers, sleeping in late and getting pissy with family.

You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. If you feel unable to completely reinvent the business, you’ll need to dip as soon as possible, regardless of cost. Business ownership is exactly like running a household—you’re either in it to stay or you’re looking for the door because you are beyond frustrated. Households can get through lean times. People stay married through wars and famine. If you really love it, then you can do it! It might take everything you got, but it’s possible.

My business needs an overhaul, and it will require rethinking the whole thing. I also have abysmally low profit margins. I have been doing it for so long, I’m truly not interested in changing business directions AT ALL, and closing it feels liberating rather than horrific. I am already getting excited about a new career path and trying to decide how to segue.

One nice thing is that the moment I decided to close it, I felt incredible peace and excitement. Before making the decision, I was a mess.

I hope you make the right choice, friend! You deserve to be happy!

Sounds like a shit business to begin with. A job would be better than whatever you’re doing. Time to hang it up and find a more profitable opportunity

Unfortunately the business is not worth that much, for you to get 4x from selling your share is actually really good. My business sells AT MOST 2.5x yearly profits, seems like you're stuck in the sunk cost fallacy. All i can see you doing is either taking time off and rethink things. See if you actually see this business growing to a point where you don't have to work every or cut and start anew because it'll never hit a point where it's not a job. As for caring it seems that you're burnt out, Exercise and meditating is what i try to do, maybe see a therapist. Sorry i wish i could do more to help good luck to you. If you don't mind me asking what kind of work do you do? If it's some sort of construction i thought they were doing great.

raise prices. Sit down and work out costs and work out what you need to charge.

I learned this lesson too, We were busy all month but made no money, next quarter I raised our prices... still made no money.. raised them again. finally we are profitable though not enough to pay me the wage I want. but now we are less busy and making the same money. it's a good thing. get more clients that pay the money you want and less haggle customers.

then after another quarter see if you still want to sell. otherwise take your 100k and spend some time working out what to do next.

So Whoever told you that you could get 100k for a failing business where your share is netting you less than 20-25k a year was high on some really really good drugs...

Unless you have a rock solid partnership agreement with a rock solid non-compete and other clauses, which you clearly don't because if you did it would have a section for buying each other out under varying circumstances like yours... All that is going to happen if you go to your partner with an insane offer like this, is that he's going to offer to sell you his half for the $100k, then if he's smart he will start a competing company and take HIS reputation there. See that's the thing about reputation - people have a relationships and reputations, not businesses, that's why great businesses die when they lose key people sometimes, and its something that is VERY important to understand when analyzing the health of your business...

Before you do anything, go take a vacation to reset and recharge. Unplug completely and spend time catching up on sleep, reading, hiking, whatever it is you need to recharge your batteries. ,

if you’re looking for a way out, it also should raise your risk tolerance to raising prices. Doing 85k a month and netting 3k isn’t great if you’re not paying yourself a salary. Why not raise prices to cover you? you would need an extra 15k or so in revenue to get you 7500 more net. That’s about a 17% price increase.

Aggressive path is to do that now and deal with whatever comes from it.

Less aggressive is to do a smaller increase like 5-10% on current work and do an even higher bump like 20% on new sales.

If it doesn’t work out you’re right where you are now.

You have three options.

1. Find a way to improve margins. You could raise prices or lower labor costs, but you're basically telling us you're unprofitable and overworked.

2. Quit. Sell your shares for whatever you can get. Move on.

3. Pivot. You've done this for 3 years. You realize it's not working and the industry isn't profitable. Is there anyway to use your existing business and contractors in a different way that is profitable?

What exactly is your business? That might help us figure out possible solutions/suggestions

Opp you sound burned out when did you last take a break? & do you have help with the bits of your business that you could employ someone else to do,so that you can get back to doing what makes your business special & successful to drive growth.

I don’t wanna Burst your bubble, but it’s not that easy to sell your share

I’m not sure what kind of business you are in but Walmart margins are tight. You may be cheap.

I’m on the same boat with business and clients patience except the margins (I make around 20% on every sale and have very small expenses). 

However everything is same. I was way too kind when starting business but that changed after years of experiencing some bad clients including those cheap ones that have no shame to shop you or constantly try to negotiate the last cent. I work with my clients closely and some are such PAIN that I had to also fire a few. There is one client super unmanageable that’s going to be next. So yes I am totally at the point where I don’t care. Maybe it’s better than caring too much. Thinking of how I was when starting my business people would take advantage of me. (But I am glad for that experience since I learnt from this part eventually) 

I think you need to take some time out at least a week a rethink. I was and still am burnt out and need vacations to think this out in detail and whether to exit or pivot.

There is something to be said for finding clients that have the highest willingness to pay and are the lowest pain in the ass factor. If you can figure out what those personas are and try to differentiate to win them , maybe you can raise prices and have fewer headaches. I also like your point about your health.

Not really enough details here to understand fully what's happening with your business. Are you getting a salary too? If not and you are doing between 600 and 1mm gross revenue and you have a pittance left for yourself, that's not good. No amount of scaling will work. No wonder your burnt out. Sell!

Totally feel for you. Been there in a low-margin service industry myself (mobile detailing) before switching gears. Constant struggle with contractors, burnout, and feeling trapped by the time invested.

$100k for your share sounds like a decent return, especially considering the burnout. Walking away and recouping some investment allows you to focus your energy elsewhere. It's not a loss if it buys back your sanity.

Not good for business, but I would have loved to witness the insufferable manchild takedown 😆

I raised my prices and no longer deal with the shit clients.

It'll never be worth what you put into it unless you suddenly have some new way to massively grow the business. Don't let the sunk cost fallacy stop you from considering selling up and moving into an industry which won't make you short-tempered.

Being a small business owner is not for sissies, or for people who think it’s easy money. I remain a business owner, even though at the end of the year, I don’t make a lot of money, because I can’t stand the thought of working for some other insufferable person-child. Not ever again lol.

There is lots of good advice here about squeezing more money out of your business, but at the end of the day, it’s got to be in your head and your heart. It’s OK if you want to leave the details of running a business to somebody else, you just have to be honest with yourself.

ETA: If you are snipping at your clients/ collaborators, then you need to take a little time off. Regardless of what you do, you don’t want to burn bridges out of pure frustration.

Dude you can't be telling off your clients.

Can you contract for yourself part time? Making more money would probably help a lot.

Hard decisions need to be taken You hit the nail - employees and contractors making more than you !

That’s the final factor . Sell your share , make the 4X - 5X .

Take time out 2 to 3 months , you are an entrepreneur with a fight and ability to sustain .

Work on a new business , there is enough goodwill in market to capitalize on , this time - make it financially worthwhile!

All the best !

Your profit margin is too small. 15% price increase.

What is your skillset?

What is your market?

What were your expectations around income?

What is your Why? <<<< answer this one first…the above answers will help you be clear on your next move.

Read the book 'Profit First' by Mike Michalowicz

You can’t run your business like this. If you don’t sell you’ll continue to hate your work and will likely suffer the mental and physical consequences of that over time.

There is a marketing guy who talked about how when he started working for himself, he would quote an hourly rate, I think he started around $100/hr. Once he got some traction, he raised his rates and kept on raising them and raising them and the clients kept coming. I think he now bills $1,500/hr.

I know that not every business can do this, but the bigger point is that a lot of the resistance to raising your prices is in your own head. Raise your prices to protect your margins or you’ll be out of business regardless. Raising your rates to ensure the longevity of your business is the responsible move.

I had a pool service business for several years and this was a tough, but necessary lesson to learn. I had clients where I knew they would drop me if I raised my rates, so I spent the first couple years just getting by with low/no margins on some of the pools I was cleaning. Then I realized that I was only hurting myself, but I was also getting resentful toward those clients. This wasn’t their fault, but knowing that I’m cleaning some pools basically for free will make you resentful pretty fast.

I raised my rates on the accounts that were too low. The result was that I lost a few accounts in the short term. Long term, every new client I signed up was given the new pricing and gladly accepted it.

People want to negotiate by nature. Start higher than you intend to price the job so that you have some wiggle room to negotiate down and still have a healthy margin. Or say something like, for a job this size, I usually charge $5k, but we’ve got a great crew of professional guys who I know will be able to handle this project, so for you, the total will be $4,500. I have next Tuesday available if that works for you (presumptive close).

If your business is registered as an LLC or some other corporate entity, then take a step back and realize that The Business (proper noun) is separate from you as a person and can live/die/grow in it's own right. Unless you're a sole proprietor and would be held liable in bankruptcy, then stop sacrificing your personal well-being to keep The Business afloat.

As an owner, you're entitled to make business decisions and earn a % of excess profits after business expenses.

As an employee doing work, you're entitled to a salary in exchange for your labor. If you stopped coming into the office tomorrow, The Business would need to hire a new manager at a competitive rate. It sounds like that's what your partner does (nothing) and unless your ownership stake is earned through free labor (bad call, IMO) then it's completely fair to add yourself to payroll. You can make the ownership decision to reduce your rate a bit to help the bottom line, but you should still pay yourself up front. The $25k ownership residual is on top of that and you should still earn it even if you bail and go get a desk job somewhere else.

Don't feel like you need to sacrifice part of yourself and put others first to make it in business. TBH you should do more exploiting and less being exploited from your position. Demand fair pay from your employer. Take your business model by the horns and demand better rates and fees from your clients - they hired you for the quality of your service and not the bare minimum of your price and unless they want to get fucked by the big guys, your quality and customer service comes at a premium. Every action has a cost. You don't take meetings, do planning, email a document for free if it's one millimeter outside the agreed terms of your general contract.

There is never a point where you make it, break through an invisible barrier and suddenly everything is great and the cash starts flowing like water downhill. You're gonna have to nickel and dime and strategize your way there and a big part of that is walking the walk of a successful, high quality business. Would the grocery store give you shit for free or at a discount just to keep your business or placate your whining? Nah, they're a real mother fucking company with the power to set their own prices and profit off of their customers.

Sorry to hear that you're so burnt out. I'm going to try to take a glass half full approach.

At this point you could easily have a job that pays you more without all the additional stress and responsibility. The good news is now you understand that and know what to look for in your next opportunity. People love to talk about revenue, but at the end of the day it's all about profit.

Alternatively, maybe this experience has shown you that your preference is to just be a 9 to 5 employee and let someone else take all the risk.

They say there's no substitute for experience, and hopefully you can put this experience to good use, or very least use it to inform future decisions about what you want to do with your time.

If you can stick it out at all, do. Downward markets are the worst time to sell, if it's a viable business.

It sounds like you are very burned out. It also doesn't seem like the business is making enough to justify continuing. I think you should consider selling your share, quitting, and taking a vacation. Burnout takes a long time to get better, but definitely gets better with time, but I don't think it will get better if you continue full time with the work you are currently doing.

You are in a service buisness, its room for growth is limited, cut uour losses and learn your lessons, start a new buisness that is capable of scale. Follow th C.E.N.T.S framework by MJ demarko which can help you find a strong idea

I recently sold my 25% in a small construction company. I had put 10 years into it and wish I had left sooner. Looking back I see it as a very in depth training period in all walks of excavation from management to the smaller hands on working parts. My point is 3 years of sacrifice might be easier than a more drawn out situation. Are you young? Maybe create a profile on some job search websites and get an idea of what all of your skills are worth to someone. That helped me with making my final decision although a different job offer was the real catalyst in my decision to sell. If you are young and have a lot of translatable skills to a similar but more lucrative industry, diversifying your skill set might be the way to go.

Most business owners start out as good people with good intentions but then they are put through the grind of daily business having to deal with government red tape, employees who are less than perfect, and all the BS that goes along with owning a business and they become jaded and some of us get mean and then people say look at those mean greedy business owners.

No amount of money is worth your mental health. Go find something you love to do.

On another point, think of the alternative. I got to that point in my business, I decided to sell it but I had to double my efforts to increase the value and asking price and then sell. I’m now doing contract work but will one day start my own biz again. It’s a good idea to take time out to think about what your life would like on the other side (it’s not always the better option). Your health is the most impotent thing and if it doesn’t make you happy, make a plan to leave

How much is your happiness worth? Do you think you'll feel better if you start making more? Or is this going to consume the rest of your life with misery? In the end you're working to live. If your work is killing you, then what's the point?

Raise / margin prices by 25% - 40% and see what the response is like.

I did this about 4 years ago, worked less, same money. Much better for all overall.

Getting a bit busy for my liking again so will likely raise it soon but along lines of 10 - 15%

In the same situation except my business profits are really good. Went from a motivated and empathetic, kind person to being hateful and put on medication for depression and anxiety for a short period. I’m planning to sell everything this year (after completing some final ideas to try and increase the sale price) and do things for more of a passion since no amount of money would make what I’m doing sustainable for my enjoyment of life

Its kinda like post Knot clarity, you need to step away for a week. Nothing. Do not think about the business one minute. Take a breather and just enjoy life. Get some actual sleep. Do a few extremely rewarding things like going kayaking or to the beach. Even if it's zoned out watching family guy and eating chicken nuggets.

Then, come back. Take a pad and pen, and write down all the pros/cons. All the finances that have to be fixed. Figure out what needs to be done to come out on top.

Then, see if you can do it. See if it's possible.

And make your decision then. But don't make one immediately. You're burnt out, you're aggravated, you're tired, and you're pissed. And you have every right to be. But would you buy a brand new $12,000 because you had a bad day with a shovel? Obviously not, because there are better ways to fix this than a complete life change.

You probably can't even see it and it's probably right in front of you. Take a minute. Get some post Knot clarity, THEN come back to this.

I speak from experience. I lost a really great company plan and really nice equipment because I made a impulse decision based on my stress. I'm not saying you shouldn't walk away, I'm just saying ask that question again ONLY when You've gotten a full 24+ hours of sleep.

From one annoyed small business owner to another, remember, it can get better. And if it doesn't there's always another door to open. Until next time, Fair winds and following seas.

I was in the same boat, I started raising prices, and continued to do so, now our projects are $200-$300/hr and we are still bringing on more work, I'm finally living much better and happier.

Do a good job and raise prices, repeat. People will pay more for good work, and some will take advantage of good cheap work.

I’m not a small business owner, but I am a former investment banker and we think about the numbers. It sounds to me like the source of your misery is the low profit margins. Having great gross margins and profit margins, with growth, immediately translates to a completely different atmosphere. I have felt it as an employee too: the difference between working at a growing profitable corporate and a stagnant one is night and day.

My advice is to remove your feelings from your analysis and look purely at this as an investment opportunity and ask yourself if this is a good business. If your answer is objectively no then sell your share, take what you have learned and reinvest it into a higher margin business.

I'm going to present a different possibility to think about.

I suspect your health may be suffering. If you can find a way to turn that around, you may be able to turn around your business if everything else is going well.

Personally, I did a few things including adopting an extremely low carb diet, and it was transformational for my life and business.

Are you paying yourself a salary before you’ve calculated your net?

started a business in what turns out to be an industry with extremely low profit margin

You did not know this ahead of time? Not enough diligence on your part?

Has anyone hit rock bottom and learned to care again- and how?

Cannot help you with this as it has never happened to me.

£100k and a sense of relief is a pretty good deal , and a great opportunity to start a fresh if you ask me.

So I (and a lot of small business owners) are feeling the squeeze right now. I feel like it’s important to remember what the important levers are in your business. I can see you work in law/professional services, and there you have 2 general models - high margin services or high volume services.

Either way, your margin needs to be healthy enough to be worthwhile chasing. I think overall sentiment in the group is correct in that you should raise prices; if that’s not possible due to your relationship with your partner, then I suggest “demanding” a salary from the business to run it (it needs to be worth it for stakeholders to pursue the business in the first place). If raising prices doesn’t work, and drawing a proper salary isn’t possible, then I would take the $100k and move on.

The opposite way to approach this would be to find cuts, or increase the funnel you can make (if increasing prices/revenue isn’t possible). So either you find a much larger volume of work and hire on more contractors to extract as much of the margin you do have (via marketing/ad spend), or you cut the cost of your contractors. From what I can tell, you’re not having to pay contractors a salary, so your costs are direct to your sales for the most part (you can increase margin by cutting your COGs).

Good luck, IMO if you can take $100k and move on without debt, may be the best situation healthwise short-term and income wise long-term. If you don’t see a way to scale it or increase pricing (between partnership and market demands), I honestly think it’s not worth pushing more time towards it as cutting costs or spending more ad money (esp in legal) is more of a temporary solution to getting more money in your pocket rather than a long term play.

If you plan to stay, I would say the best way to approach would be to get a salary before distributions to manage and run the business, that way you’re at least getting paid what you’re worth. At the end of the day, you’re trying to get a return on your money and time invested into a business/asset.

Been there. It's tough, but sometimes a fresh start heals.

You only have one life. I say move on.

To be honest, it sounds like you made something great and did a great job pushing through. I’d say you should either stick with it and just let it be what it is and let it work for you, or try something new - you definitely will succeed at whatever you do. Maybe not the answer you were looking for but from what I can tell in your post, there’s a lot of positive perspective here that doesn’t harp simply on how much money you are making.

Every time someone comments that OP should raise their prices, they stop responding.

U/newbturner what is your aversion to raising prices? Do you only have clients because of how little you charge?

I would have walked long ago.

Profit margins are atrocious if you are selling 300k yearly and taking 20k home. That’s 6-7% margin. This is something you should hammer out prior to investing your life into it.

Are you just brokering out work to others? Even for brokering standard fee % is much higher.

I wouldn’t assume you can sell the business for 4X

Look into sunk cost fallacy

What is the industry? Hard to understand the issues when you could be a caterer or a general contractor. Burnout happens but changing your perspective might help also. Is this service? Obviously you have clients. Either way I have been burned out before. Hope you find your passion for it again.

Take a leave. Get away from everything. And then come back. See if it changes anything.

Have you tried increasing your margin?

Try something new for a higher profit

Don’t give up

What industry are you in

My small business hasn’t gotten any exposure It’s been 2 weeks and I was hoping to start selling by now. I sell men’s colognes dupes in my own spray bottle go check it out https://levalfragrances.etsy.com

I might have an opportunity for you, I’m not sure, DM me if you’re interested.