Life Update

Hey Folks!

Another month slides on by and we’re now into August! Can you believe it? Already. The UK had some seriously sunny weather closer to around April / May time and since then it’s been back to ‘normal’ UK weather of wind and rain and now with Autumn on the horizon, it almost feels like Summer is already coming to a close!

The business is continuing to grow well with new clients and projects and we have a very delicate crossroad to cross over the course of the next 1-2 years (more about this later).

The garden is continuing to grow well, and I’ve managed to grow cucumbers! Can you believe it! (After killing 4 plants at the start of this year).

Board Games – Convention!

I managed to escape to a relatively ‘normal’ event over the weekend. I went to the UK Games Expo, which is an event focused solely around Board Games! I’m a huge fan of board games, from Dungeons & Dragons, to party games, to relaxed and family games. Meeting up with friends, sharing in each other’s successes and demises (the latter being the funnier) holds just something special and connecting to me. To me it really makes memories and shared ones at that. 

When I visited the expo in Birmingham at the NEC, I took a wedge of cash with me (that I had saved up over the last 2 years as last year was cancelled) and decided to increase the haul! Here’s the haul this year:

Business – Do I sell or do I continue?

Some of you may know that I run a Digital Agency. Originally setup in 2014, it’s been growing from strength to strength. Naturally we’ve kept the team small, raised wages and focused on continuing to grow. However, we have heard rumours that it is very much a ‘buyer’s market’ out there at the moment, so naturally, we decided to have the business appraised a few weeks ago just to dip our toes in the water.

To provide some rough guidance on the numbers side of things > We are over £1mill turnover and out EBITDA is around the £450,000. After a rather lengthy call of 2 hours, checking through financial accounts, going through due diligence and process, we were quoted a figure. As a baseline and minimal expectations, we were quoted between x8 and x10 of our EBITDA to sell. The digital industry is supposedly very attractive to investors and is of course a ‘hot subject’. I run and operate the business with my business partner and is evenly split down the middle in 50/50 manner.

If this figure was to come true (I had my scepticism about it) but after being shown similar businesses with less EBITDA selling for x11 x14 EBITDA, soon that baseline was looking realistic (in my thought process).

If this was the case, then the business could be sold for £3.6 million for x8 or x10 at £4.5 million. After taxes, entrepreneur relief and the fee for selling the business (4%) this would net just under £2 million each. Not bad for 6-7 years worth of work, right? That’s on the basis that it sells etc (which we’re told, we’re quite sellable due to the structure, high cash flow business, monthly clients etc).

If we were to push the button and begin seeing exactly what we could achieve, and it was to sell, of course this would be way past my FI number (wahoo!). But at the same time, the business has been there was a financial backup as well over the years and my trust and belief in the FIRE system of withdrawing 3-4% would need to last me over the rest of my life (I’m 31 to put it into perspective!). That’s the part I’m just spending a few more days to think about. Fortunately, my business partner is quite easy going and will go with the ‘flow’ as to speak – he doesn’t have any FIRE principles and is happy keeping up with the Jones’ (we are of very different mindsets when it comes to money, which has worked quite well).

So what would you do in my position? Keep chugging along at the cost of stress, time, worry? Perhaps re-work the business so I can take a step back and let it try and self-manage? Or sell it all, have no worry, no back in the mind thoughts about it and begin living life not enslaved to a computer screen?

Financial Update | July 2021

So how have those financials been looking for the month of July?

Income | £7,951

Income has continued to relatively stable and averaging around £8,000 per month.

Expenses | £1,848

Expenses were actually relatively low for me for a change! Though I do have an up and coming tax bill to pay, so expect next month to see a slightly higher expenses ratio to savings.

Savings | £4,775

Equalling a savings rate of 60% – still unfortunately underneath my savings rate goal of 65%, though still very grateful and appreciative that I am almost able to save £5,000 per month!

Investment Graph

Ending

Onwards and upwards as I always say. There’s no rush in all of this and I continue to work on slogging away and keeping those savings numbers as high as possible (without any detriment to life)!

Thanks all.