All on the table: I need your help and I have a confession to make

This is a hard post to write, because I don't really write much about my personal life and never have. Sure, you know I've got a Swedish wife that is 6 foot tall and blonde (ish), I like beer, whiskey and wine (but that's the Irish roots) and that I like to cut the grass or actually that I cut the grass quite a lot.

But there are some things you don't know about me or why I write this blog and where I live and how I live. The profile bit at the bottom of this post is partly a joke. But today, I've got a confession because things are about to change in my life if I want them too.

The short story is that I started a business fifteen years ago and things turned out better than expected. Six years ago someone offered to buy it for a sum of money that meant I could wipe all my debts, invest and still have a moderate monthly income for the rest of my life. The only caveat was I'd have to join this fairly large multi-national and lead the development of a new business division with fairly aggressive expectations.

But, I'd have this money in the bank and I was going to have a team of fifty, with all the perks this new company could offer, that go hand in hand with such large expectations. I'm still young, so I couldn't say no. The thing is, it's gone better than expected and now, a competitor to my current employer has approached me an offered me a position that on the face of it looks interesting, but it's an old company that isn't very innovative, trying to breakthrough again.

Things are about to change around here

It would mean I could play at the weekend again. It would mean that I'd have an office job close to my family and that people would come to me and I'd not need to spend four or five days a week travelling. My team would double but my income would quadruple and I'd also have shares in this new business that after three years and if we were successful, I'd be able to cash in and it would mean that my family would be looked after and have the best of everything.

But the thing is, my current employer would be okay if I leave as I'd be leaving them a good team that know what we've done and know what needs to be done. But there is something that is niggling away at me; because we're close to something special that I've worked on from day one. We're close to a breakthrough with a new connected product that will literally transform our industry.

And if that happens, it's not about another job for me, but an entire lifestyle change. You see, we're in talks with one of the largest companies on the planet and if this breakthrough happens, they'll buy us up and then it's no longer about working and getting a round of golf in at the weekend, but about playing every day if I want, living a life where my family and I get to follow the sun or the snow.

And now it's decision time

So I've got two options; I either take this new job and basically join this other company with a few more perks, doing the same thing, or I stay where I am today, quite possibly for not very long and in a job that I enjoy and where I'm well respected and well rewarded with people I enjoy working with. And if I stay and we make this breakthrough, I'll be able to write my own ticket.

And even if we don't make the breakthrough, I know that I'd easily be able to join a company of similar size to the one that I can go to now, because basically, they're not that big or actually that interesting and they're living off a product they created in the 70's and 80's. They're hardly innovative and have been trying for years with lots of other people before me and while I know I'm good, I'm that good that I also know it's not just about me.

Question of the day

So this is where I need your help and where the question of the day comes back to the blog; do I join the other company or do I stick where I am for a year and hope the breakthrough happens bearing in mind that if it doesn't I can still join another company for that little step up.

I need your help - please use the form below to tell me what you think I should do because my gut tells me if I take the job offer on the table now, I'll regret it for years to come.