Ask HN: Quitting my corporate job to help my dads failing small business

Maybe you did make a mistake. Your family had a diversified income stream before. You probably didn't send your dad money, but at least you weren't draining him, and if the worst happened, your income could have been a great help to the family.

Now all your family's eggs are in a single basket ... which is already leaking. Strategically, this was not optimum for your family.

Your dad is emotionally invested in his business, which has caused him to hold off shutting it down. Finally, he made that difficult decision, and you've come to muddy the waters.

I'm uncertain what kind of web site can realistically be expected to pull a failing floor tile store into success. Perhaps you and your dad can examine the local economy around your dad's store and start fresh with a new business, in a new industry, combining your skills.

Have you quit your job already ? I strongly advise that you figure out a game plan and instead of acting with emotions, use a more practical approach. The thing is that just quitting without any plans might work for you but it is also possible that you could be in similar situation as your father i.e. both struggling financially.

Unless you have some reasonable plan to help your dad out, I strongly advise against quitting your current job. Don't do it.

This isn't necessarily something you can fix. And recognize that it may not be something that wants fixing. Your father's reasons for leaving the tile business may be analogous to your reasons for leaving a corporate job - it frees him up to do something else.

You'll probably have lots of jobs in your life. But you only get one father and a limited amount of time to spend one way or the other. What is the right choice for you, is the right choice for you. The right choice for him, is right for him.

Talk with him about it.

Good luck.

#1 No. But you wouldn't have made a mistake by staying either. Who you are is what choices you make, and what commitments you keep. Whatever choice you made would have been the right choice for the person you would have become.

#2. Just remember cash paramount. You can go years with little profit, or even no profit. You cannot last one day without cash. Your first consideration is bringing new streams of cash in.

Wait did he close doors and you're helping him with a new project?

I would learn marketing asap I can point in the right direction if interested - I've created measurable marketing returns for small businesses , but never a silver bullet approach. feel free to shoot me an email at davidcristello (at) gmail (dot) com

Realize that his business may not be failing due to the housing crisis, but to other factors that you may not know. Find out more before any decision is made. Sometimes, business owners dig themselves into a hole they can't get out.

#1 No. The moment you stop waking up and looking forward to work its the moment to do something new.

#2. If you're going to be selling a service or product obviously make an e-commerce store

You can use your skills to go online and build alliances with builders. Using your existing contacts, you can start a drop shipment kind of process for your online business.

Good Luck!