Hi coaches,

So my fiance came home the other day and got an unexpected job offer. He currently owns his own business, and has been slowly making progress in it. This being said, his business is still small and not where he wants it to be. He has always had the idea of ‘selling it’ one day and says he can’t see it being what he wants to ultimately do, but views it as a stepping stone to getting there. He at times gets distracted and lost about his goals, and I often see him stuck in day to day things without focusing on the bigger picture.

The job offer he got is amazing and he will be earning a salary more than what he currently gets. Furthermore, the company is a lot larger, and has offered him possible equity into the business and wants to buy his current business off him and bring him in on a senior position.

When he met with them, he came home and told me that he thinks he is not going to take the job. He said that he feels that the CEO does not have growth and is focusing on getting more customers and trading time for money as opposed to finding new ways of leveraging income. He said to me that he discussed some ideas with the CEO and the CEO told him to stay in his lane. He said that he appreciates his ‘hunger’ and vision, but needs to be realistic. My fiance does not like trading time for money and he’s looking at ways of automating his business/ achieving his income goals without having to work from 8-5 every day. The CEO said it is normal for his employees to often work late to get the job done and my fiance was heavily disappointed in their 5 year goal that they set for their company. He also dove into the ‘why’ of their business and said that they didn’t really have a clear direction.

I have mixed feeling about this whole thing. On the one hand, I know him and his ability to push and make things happen in his own business. But on the other hand, I’ve seen how he can easily get comfortable and stagnant and sometimes stay within his comfort zone in his business. I have chatted to him about this and he said that he sees more of a future in investing in himself and his company, rather than working and having to answer for someone else who doesnt ultimately have the same ‘end goal’. He also doesn’t have confidence that the CEO has a clear vision of growth and thinks that their whole business strategy is outdated. This being said, they are offering him an amazing opportunity for now and a part of me feels like this will grow him and give him added credibility because of the company’s name.

I’m very torn over this. On the one hand, I get comfort in knowing that he will have a stable salary coming in and that he will grow by having a new role. But on the other hand, I do know him and his abilities and what he is capable of. The way he sees it, he wants to take the ‘harder route’ now and build up his company as opposed to going for comfort of getting a high paying salary for now. I fully support him, but a part of me feels scared to let this new opportunity go.

I guess what I’m saying is that it’s more my mind drama around him not accepting the job, than his. He seems to be pretty happy with his decision and he is ready to push ahead with his company. Of course, he values my opinion and we have had a lot of discussions around it all, but I’m just scared. What if he misses this opportunity? I wonder things like ‘is he selling himself short by not taking this opportunity’ or ‘what if his business doesn’t work out and he loses this opportunity’.

Please can you help me on this?