Need some advice please! My husband and I started our business in May 2022 and for the first year it did ok. We grew accordingly, but things have become difficult lately and we are struggling to make ends meets.
When we were doing well, we decided to employ my dad. He was desperately unhappy in his job and we naively agreed to pay him his current salary. Since things have become tight, we are struggling to afford this more than ever.
It is clear my parents know we are struggling with financial difficulty, maybe not to the extent we are doing. We have made cuts to the business but can’t help but feel the next step is to have the conversation that we can’t keep paying him what we are - which is more than my husband and I are currently taking home.
My dad has also crashed the van we hired for him several times causing a significant amount of damage - damage we are now having to fix ourselves as the excess is for a fleet of vans and is too much. He has not offered to help with the cost or offered any time to help fix the van.
My dad was supposed to come in as a manager type, and although the work is manual and hard, has caused more problems by arguing over instructions, letting staff get away with things and failing to follow instructions.
We really have tried. This is causing a wedge now as me and my husband are arguing about it and we are now distant from my parents, who we once had a really close relationship with. The bottom line is my dad is resentful he can’t retire yet and that is coming out in his attitude to work.
We truly did this for the right reasons as I love my dad very much - but I can’t see a way out of this situation and it is really affecting me.