Advice on starting or buying a business with inheritance

[Carbonmade]

Hi everyone, although it’s for very sad reasons I am in the fortunate position to be due to inherit just over 100k in the near future and I want to use it to make a real life change - I currently work in a relatively well paid role but one that makes me absolutely miserable and I want to leave as soon as I can. I’m unlikely to do anything too drastic until the current situation with Covid is getting better but would like to make plans in the meantime and looking for inspiration! If you came into a lump sum what would you do with it in my position? DH’s salary covers all of our outgoings so (as long as he still has a job - which of course is less certain than it was 3 months ago) I can afford to take same time building something up into being profitable. I’ve always thought about opening a menswear shop in our local town (quite well off area and I think this is a major gap in the market at the moment), but think anything on the high street would be a mistake in the current climate so starting to look at other ideas. Would love to hear from other people who’ve done similar in middle age? Thanks in advance

We are in a similar position but instead of buying a business, it's more a case of house renovations versus paying off a chunk of the mortgage. If we weren't about to go into a recession and I have no idea how we will be affected by it personally, I'd want to use the money to renovate. But it's more sensible to take a load off the mortgage. DH wants to retire well before 65 and if we pay off some of the mortgage, he can do that.

Sorry that's not useful advice. I suggest doing ALOT of research and creating a really strong business plan to understand what you would be doing. It's a tough time for independent shops so I guess it depends if you'd regret not taking the opportunity or maybe use some of it to retrain.

The entire planet is about to go into the mother of all recessions so it's probably not a good idea to open a business right now. Lots of people have lost or will lose their jobs so will have less disposable income to spend on luxuries. Lots of established clothing labels have gone bust so a new independent firm will struggle.

What I would do with that £100k is pay off all or part of my mortgage and clear my debts. Put a chunk of money in 60 day account so you can access it if you fall into financial trouble. I certainly wouldn't use it to open a business now, it is the wrong economic climate for it.

Whether it’s a good idea to start a business depends to a large extent on what business it actually is. There are plenty of sectors doing perfectly fine, or even really well at the moment, and plenty that have adapted with admirable agility to respond to this crisis.

It’s over simplistic to say you shouldn’t start any business, but it is realistic to say you need to be much more careful about what that business is and how you market it.

What are your skills/area of experience/knowledge?