help - desperate work situation

[changedmyname12345]

Hello,

(I have put this in chat but haven't had any replies yet and am desperate for advice - hope that is ok?)

Sorry if this is long but I am desperate for a solution. I have got myself into a terrible problem workwise and would be grateful for any advice.

I had been doing my previous job for 15 years, it was a job that I had mainly enjoyed and was good at but the last year became intolerable, there was a major restructure at work and the work I had always done was taken away, my post deleted and I was ring-fenced for a job I didn’t want - being managed by someone who I didn’t like. I got the job but really didn’t want it and left. Not before I had sorted something else out though. A year or so earlier my Dad had died and had left me with a significant amount of money, enough that I could have left my job without anything to go to and taken my time finding something else. Instead I listened to a lot of other people including my boyfriend (none of whom knew the full story such as how much my Dad had left me) who advised me to have something to fall back on. So I did what they advised me to do and got something else.
What I did was buy into a franchise, it only used a small part of my Dad’s money and was related to my previous field so I thought it would be good. I now realise that I have made a terrible mistake. I don’t like doing it, there are parts of it I hate, I miss working with other people and I am not making any money yet. I know that businesses take a while to grow and I think this one would/will eventually become profitable but I just don’t like it.
The problem is I can’t get out of it easily. I have signed a five year contract and if I want to get out of it the only options are: to sell it – but it hasn’t been going long enough to make this likely, to pay the franchisors £20,000 to get out and lose my initial investment, to employ someone to manage it (retaining enough from the profit to pay my franchise fees of £10,000 per year) or to employ someone to do the bits I hate. My boyfriend (who now knows my full financial situation) thinks I should either employ a manager or someone to do the bits I don’t like – if I do even some parts of the business though it would be difficult for me to find another job as the business is very time-consuming.

I just don’t know what to do, I want out – but I will have wasted a lot of my Dad’s money if I throw the towel in. I also feel that my boyfriend, much as I love him is skewing my judgement. We are meant to be buying a house together and are due to put our houses on the market in a month or so. The initial idea was that I put in more than him (as I could afford it due to my Dad’s inheritance), I don’t feel comfortable with this as I want the money to potentially cushion me from this situation. He is ok with that but encouraging me to keep at the business for at least another year.

I am tempted to just pay my way out – I wondered what people think – I know it is a crazy situation but how can I get back to a similar job to one I was doing else? And in what order can I do it? If I pay my way out of the franchise I won’t have a job to go to but if I get a job first, it could take ages to sort out the franchise which would be difficult to manage with a new job and how can I deal with potentially moving house with all this on my plate? I just want to bury my head in the sand and make it all go away…

Is to do with sales. Other franchisors are in other parts of the country and are helpful but not local. If I took someone else on they wouldn't be working directly with me. Yes, I'm also concerned about everything and having the money made me make a rash decision. I think I need to try to sell it but it could take ages. And I have the house to worry about too.

Put the house on the back burner for now. You're not responsible for your boyfriend's problem.

Hire someone to do the work you dislike, and get a very part-time job (or volunteer) in a sociable environment so that you get some interaction, and then see how you feel at the end of the year.

def do not buy the house. sounds like your bf wants to use your money to solve his problems. that is a very bad idea. what happens of a consequence of that will give you an indication of the true state of your relationship. do not assume responsibility for him.

secondly, don't buy your way out of the contract. you lose £20k immediately and it sounds like another knee jerk reaction.

try and work your way through it. get someone on p/t.

change is always scary and difficult. you do need to give yourself time to settle down.

after 3 months, review and if you are still so unhappy then look to selling.

i think you really need to start thinking about what YOU want to do. seems to me like you're trying to please everyone else. ask what they think by all means, but ultimately it has to feel right to you (and that even includes my advice ).

you can explore several options in parallel and finding out more without committing irrevocably might help you decide. Two I'd explore - if you found the right manager - someone you like and trust and who is definitely competent - this could be a positive working relationship for you and you could take a little time to induct them before withdrawing to concentrate on your next job. You can look for someone before committing - you'd need a really good contract with them of course. You could use mumsnet! Another option. There are new shared workspaces starting up all over the place where you get shared facilities and some company - some you don't pay very much. If you had others around would that help provide some of what you miss?

I would get someone in to do the bits you hate, then give it some time to see how this works out.

20k is a lot to throw away without trying other options first.
Could you get a college/university leaver? Now would be a perfect time for that. A great opportunity for someone to get experience in a field they want to go into, something that would look good on a cv for them.

I think you're getting some useful comments on this thread OP, so take your time and mull them over.
Remember, you don't have to be rash about major decisions. Although we all seem in agreement that the house purchase and move are a bad idea.
Back out of that and you immediately solve a major worry, plus, as eddie says, the follow on will be a very good indication of your b/f's feelings for you and also his ability to solve his own problems in a constructive way rather than using your money as an easy option.

Is to do with sales. Other franchisors are in other parts of the country and are helpful but not local. If I took someone else on they wouldn't be working directly with me. Yes, I'm also concerned about everything and having the money made me make a rash decision. I think I need to try to sell it but it could take ages.

Do you have a message board or FB Group or something like that where you could log in and communicate more often with other people in the business. Maybe there's some kind of trade association?

An assistant may not physically work with you but you'd also get to communicate with them rather than being isolated in the business. Sales is a skill and not for everyone, so I'm not surprised if you're not getting on with it, but it's obviously an important part of your business, so find someone who both has the skills and personality for both the work and as an employee and you may find the business improves sooner than you think.
It's very hard going in sales if your heart's not in it or you're not cut out for it.

The only problem I see for you right now is how to make this business work for you and how to make it a success to the point where you can sell it, take a profit or at least lose nothing, recoup what you had originally and then crack on with finding another job that you do like.

It's at that point I'd start to think about houses.
A year, two years, time soon flies by.

If you pay a manager to do the work, can you then sell it after the five years is up and get your money back? Or can you employ someone with the option of them buying it from you when the time is up?

I knew it was going to be sales related - it's usually the part of running a business most people hate, which is basically what my business is based on!
You can get help and mentoring with it which might make you if not enjoy it make it easier.

Take time to think about whether you aren't enjoying sales because you are inexperienced and don't have the support you need to gain confidence or whether it genuinely is something you are never going to be good at. If you got some help as suggested could that change how you feel? At the outset did you think you'd be ok with it?

At the onset my thinking was so blurred with how much I hated my current work situation that I couldn't think straight and imagined the sales to be a much smaller component.

I think you need to take care with your decisions now and you need to be very active in researching what you might do with the franchise and how you go forward with work in future. Why don't you try drawing up a job description both for someone who could take on part of the work while you continue to work in the business and a different JD for a manager who would do the lot? Try to include everything - the money, the hours, how that person would relate to you, also the skills and qualities you'd be looking for. If you do this as an exercise I think you may learn something about what you want for yourself.

Any business has Sales at its core and anyone running a business sells all the time, as indeed do most of us - often without realising it!
It's honestly not that difficult or scary, if it's the only issue its solvable.
PM me if you want, I specialise in helping non sales people to sell - not touting for business its a MN freebie

Hello, nothing much has changed with all this apart from the fact that my boyfriend is backing me up whatever I do. Am feeling desperate about it though. I know my only way out is by paying the franchisors off as I can't sell it quickly enough to stop doing it as soon as I would like which is now. Feeling miserable.

No few if this is possible but could you "sell" half of the franchise - so someone works in it doing the bit you don't like in return for half the equity/profits?
If you can find someone who wants a franchise but doesn't have the capital it could work well

I don't have time to sell it because I just want out now. I can't bear it literally and I think I'm getting depression because of it. I have been applying for jobs.

And there are no profits at the moment.

Just to avoid paying the 20k breakage charge, why not bang an ad in your local papers/Gumtree/etc just offering a business opportunity, only £1k/£500/whatever you think investment needed, franchise already operating and has customer base of X, but not yet turning a profit, expected to be in profit by X date. Say that your personal circumstances have recently changed drastically so the business is no longer right for you.

I can feel your desperation but with 20k at stake I would grit my teeth a bit longer and try to find someone to take over even if you end up giving it away.

Do you feel able to talk to your GP and perhaps ask for counselling? I just feel that you need to talk to someone about this before you make a mistake in disposing of the franchise without giving it a chance. I'm not sure what has changed for you since your bought it, because you must have known about the sales element.

I get the feeling - just reading between the lines - that you don't like to think that you've made a mistake (in general, not just with the franchise) as you have made excuses a bit for taking the franchise on. And it does sound as if you've lost a bit of perspective on the whole situation, yet feel it's difficult to take a step back.

If you can covering the continuing franchise fee for a couple of months, why not take a break from it while you job hunt and see how you feel? I honestly think you'll feel better long-term if you give it a go though. But if you can talk to someone completely detached I think it would help.

thank you Fizrim but there is no option for taking a break for it. The contract is set in stone. I did know what I was taking on but was blinkered as I just wasn't thinking straight and imagined it to be something different to how it has turned out. I know I've made a mistake, a massive one and I've come to the conclusion I can't continue.

There is often a monthly minimum fee, the CFF or continuing franchise fee - can you pay that without doing any work to give yourself a break? I know you mention in your OP that you want a job similar to the last one you had but you didn't like that at the end either - so all jobs have bits that we wish were not there! And I don't see it as a massive mistake, tbh. Not at all. How long have you had the franchise now?

Are you already depressed? If you need to take time away sick from the franchise for a little bit better to do that than make a hasty decision.

For goodness sake, don't chuck away 20 grand of your dad's money just because you don't like doing something. I understand what it's like when you hate a job, I really, really do, I've been in the situation a couple of times and it's horrendous, but the constructive way to change things is to plan your exit and be patient. It's maybe a few months of unhappiness for the sake of a proper chunk of money that could achieve so much more long term stability in your life.

Surely the way forward is to find a short term solution to the situation that will improve your daily life, not just chuck the money away to get out of it, with no guarantee of a job you'll like at the end of it.

What was it that initially attracted you to the business? You need to reconnect with that feeling of potential. And get some help with the sales element. As other posters have said, you can learn straightforward techniques that really do make it easier. I've done this myself, and it does make a difference.

You need to reconnect with that feeling of potential.

Love this phrase - Artio is right. It can be difficult when you are in the thick of things to think back and see what attracted you at the time.