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The risk is, at some point someone will come along and compete and in effect destroy his business. He's relying on the future income stream where as the IPO rou

by rythie 16y ago

The risk is, at some point someone will come along and compete and in effect destroy his business. He's relying on the future income stream where as the IPO route ends up with money in your pocket, that can't be taken away. For example, someone runs the local pub that everyone drinks at despite the expensive beer, because it's the only one in town. Then wetherspoons turns up with it's cheap beer and aggressive promotions and original local pub struggles to make a profit anymore.

theBobMcCormick 16y ago
Life is never without risks. If he IPO's and takes the "money in his pocket", he could still get wiped out by a bad investment. IMHO that might even be more likely since since most entrepreneurs/small business owners already knows their current line of business quite well, knows the players, the competitive landscape, etc. At the same time, most of these same entrepreneurs/small business owners often know jack shit about investing, so I would think they'd be a lot more likely to make expensive mistakes in investing than they would be on their "home turf".
- rythie 16y ago
  Your assuming he would reinvest the money rather than just keep it a savings account (or several).
  - jaxn 16y ago
    The point being that there is always risk, and if you currently have the end result, there isn't much reason to give that up so that you can make a bunch of money and get back to where you started. This is somewhat related to one of the best comments in the FU money thread. If you were happy before the money you will be happy after the money. If you were miserable before the money you will likely be miserable after the money. BTW, that IPO isn't a sure thing either. I would guess that a successful IPO is less likely than a big competitor ruining your business.
terrellm 16y ago
There's definitely a risk of losing the modest revenue stream that I've had for the last 10 years and hope continues for another 10. It's something that I'm aware and try to prepare for in both my business (branding, continue to innovate, etc) as well as personally (diversified revenue streams). There's also a risk in losing a business by pushing so hard for a buyout/IPO at the expense of ROI & profit, only to not get that IPO or buyout and be left with nothing. I went down that road several years ago and was fortunately able to get my business back on track before losing it. You bring up some good points and I think it's helpful for HN'ers to see the interesting discussion on lifestyle vs IPO/buyout businesses.

by rythie 16y ago

theBobMcCormick 16y ago

Life is never without risks. If he IPO's and takes the "money in his pocket", he could still get wiped out by a bad investment. IMHO that might even be more likely since since most entrepreneurs/small business owners already knows their current line of business quite well, knows the players, the competitive landscape, etc. At the same time, most of these same entrepreneurs/small business owners often know jack shit about investing, so I would think they'd be a lot more likely to make expensive mistakes in investing than they would be on their "home turf".

rythie 16y ago
Your assuming he would reinvest the money rather than just keep it a savings account (or several).
- jaxn 16y ago
  The point being that there is always risk, and if you currently have the end result, there isn't much reason to give that up so that you can make a bunch of money and get back to where you started. This is somewhat related to one of the best comments in the FU money thread. If you were happy before the money you will be happy after the money. If you were miserable before the money you will likely be miserable after the money. BTW, that IPO isn't a sure thing either. I would guess that a successful IPO is less likely than a big competitor ruining your business.

terrellm 16y ago

There's definitely a risk of losing the modest revenue stream that I've had for the last 10 years and hope continues for another 10. It's something that I'm aware and try to prepare for in both my business (branding, continue to innovate, etc) as well as personally (diversified revenue streams). There's also a risk in losing a business by pushing so hard for a buyout/IPO at the expense of ROI & profit, only to not get that IPO or buyout and be left with nothing. I went down that road several years ago and was fortunately able to get my business back on track before losing it. You bring up some good points and I think it's helpful for HN'ers to see the interesting discussion on lifestyle vs IPO/buyout businesses.