(moderators, give me until 1:00pm GMT on 27 March, then feel free to delete)
I always get the honest advice here, so I thought I might ask y'all to think about my life for a while...
The "project" I need guidance on is my family business. There is no code to share. There is no data-sheet to read or clever "for loop" to save me...
I have come to a cross-road. I want to expand the family business -- which I was put in charge of, reluctantly, several years ago (i'm the #3 son and my dad wouldn't trust the other 2 with a potato gun, LOL, but they work for me). I have already put almost every piece of my new branch together and, now, am literally one "mouse-click" away from doing it -- I even hired a guy to be the branch manager.
My dilemma is that everyone in my sphere-of-influence is opposed to the expansion for what I think is a "personal selfish reason:" My wife thinks I'll be away from home even more... my father is retired and doesn't want to risk his "nest-egg"... the other branch manager doesn't think I can make it work... my 2 brothers are saying they will have to do more work for the same money.... and everyone else it seems has an excuse, too!
The problem is that my GUT tells me it is the 100% right thing to do!! Unfortunately, no one wants this but me. It WILL BE financially profitable (I made sure of that, first), but once it is in place, I fear that everyone will be working against it.
I just don't know what to do. I know this is not even close to enough "code" for any of you to give me the answer that makes my LED come on, but I don't really have anyone else to ask. Even my closest friends are like: "Dude, your 50-something. Why would you give yourself this task when you are already doing so good?"
I don't know... I just have this drive to "create" something new! If the new branch succeeds, then my "sphere-of-influence" will begrudge me for it; if it fails, they will say: "I told you so..."
To complicate matters, I just figured-out that the guy I hired to run it may not be as capable as I had thought (after watching him closely for the few months he's been working with me).
Anything you can give me, any thought, platitude, advice, song, wisdom, experience, hated, sympathy, regret, or joke that you can offer will be read and considered. I won't be able to update you on my decision. I won't be able to give you any more info on the situation. Just write your initial thoughts and even if it's insulting, I will read and think on it.