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Feeling lost/depressed after selling my business (multiple 6-figure exit) (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by Emerson_NBS@alien.top to c/entrepreneur@indiehackers.space

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Hey guys, I have recently sold my business for multiple 6-figures (between 100k and 500k) and now I'm feeling lost and almost a bit depressed.

I always thought that exiting a business would bring me joy but it was almost the opposite.

I find myself in a strange situation where I have enough money not to have to work for a bit, but not enough to retire, and at the same time since I don't have any new money coming in, I found myself becoming extremely frugal.

I tried starting new projects but I often find myself getting discouraged because the project doesn't start working right away. Additionally, since I'm venturing into something new that I've never done before, doubts start creeping into my mind.

Alongside these doubts, there is also the fear of investing a significant amount of money into this project, and after seeing it fail finding myself in the same financial situation I was in before the exit.

Can any of you relate to this situation? Do you have any suggestions?

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[–] VeryThicknLong@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I was in a very similar situation to you. Sold my business, moved to a new area… and felt flat. Well, very flat and depressed for about a year afterwards. It’s strange to feel like you’re winning with a successful business, to then sell, and realise all that hard work you put in is now condensed into an amount of money. You question your life, existence, the lot.

I now fill my days by doing a mix of whatever the hell I like… long walks, nice cooking, doing up my house, volunteering, and work wise, I offer up my services to people I used to work with… so that takes up maybe 3 days a week.

[–] KnightXtrix@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

My situation sounds identical to yours, except I just sold the biz and won’t be moving for 6 months.

Did you start feeling better after the year?

[–] VeryThicknLong@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I was in a 3 year earn-out, followed by another sale and another 3 year earn-out. After all the hard work I put in, I felt so empty… it’s like a grief or something, hard to explain.

I think I reached a weird state of burn-out, but functional burn-out… I craved the high pressure. 🤷🏻‍♂️

It’s been a year in Feb 2024, but I took some time out (not as much time as I thought I would), but made an effort to visit friends all over the country who I’d not seen for a long time. Slowly but surely I started to get a new vigour for other stuff, putting plans and ideas into focus, and realising that my work only matters to me and others in the industry, it matters not a shit to anyone else. Sounds sad, but you’ve actually got to teach yourself how to live again.

Edited: spelling