I reluctantly wanted to add some context to this thread, and my story...
About a year ago, my right hand man, Elliot, had an unbelievable stroke of bad luck. His wife, Aimee, fell victim to the Cancer lottery at the age of 37. Although they had a ton of support, both financially and from friends and family, she succumbed to her illness just after Christmas. The day after her only daughter's 2nd birthday. Since her diagnosis, he was still helping me out on a part-time basis and was absolutely critical in getting my last project over the line. It reminded me of how integral he was to this business. I always knew that. But I also now realized that it was the companionship that I missed most. I've always referred to him as my partner, and did as much as I could to keep him feeling the love and appreciation from my end. He was a massive part of the company. After Covid, I lost a couple of my key guys to the allure of Comox and a new wife. We were getting into our 40s and everyone's lives were changing. We were always a group of buddies that just grew up together building houses. With me being the only one crazy enough to deal with the clients. It was a lot of fun, we were a family. Some of the core group had been together since 2004, with the other half joining around 2012. So as much as this new reality has had to do with the economy and the work drying up, I think it had more to do with the break-up of my group of buddies at work. I've never been the best business owner, but I was dedicated to my friends, and I enjoyed going to work. After Elliot's full-time departure, I truly understood how hard this work is, and that having a team behind me is absolutely essential to my success. Elliot is now navigating this next phase of life, and I want to be there to support him. Maybe this is why I'm so on the fence about what to do. We've talked about him coming back to work, I just haven't had the heart to admit that I have no idea what he'd be returning to. I'm sure we'll figure it out though.
Anyway, the point of all of this. To anyone that has a business or is thinking about starting a business. Keep the good people around you happy. Life changes fast and those people might not always be around. Going at it alone is not easy.
A bit of Aimee's story here...
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com