\or, on top of a stash.*

The Idea: Build a business you can walk away from.

The Context: My wife and I run a small marketing business that makes $200k per year. Our profit margin is ~70%, and we pay ourselves $50k/yr each. I also have a FT role ($75k) with a startup. We spend $50k, but our FIRE goal is to be able to sustain $75k per year. With 2 little kids, our goal isn't necessarily to build up as much as possible and then retire completely. It's to optimize our time so we get as much time with them as possible.

The Breakdown:

With our current numbers, it would take ~9 years to invest enough to sustain $75k/yr. OR we could take the next 2 years to get our business to the point where it can support 75% of the salary at 25% of the effort (~15 hrs per week).

It would take a lot to get there: systems, training, higher pay, and hiring a full time employee to act as an account manager. But I believe we could get there in 18-24 months. And, since I have my startup salary, we could still continue to build our stash.

The Upshot: It would mean a much lower profit margin, but also a much lower time investment after the next couple of years.

Questions for ya:

• Has anyone done something similar with their own business? How has it gone?
• What are the cons to this approach I may not be considering?
• Is anyone planning on this "business" version of BaristaFI? How's it going?