What a week it has been for a long-standing client of mine. He has run the family business for many years and finally on Monday I got a text from him saying ‘As of Friday I have retired’.

Now this wasn’t a bolt out of the blue, and I knew the business sale was going through, but I can’t express how pleased I was for him. The business in question has really struggled with staffing issues and rising fuel costs, and this has meant him working harder on his business than he has had to for many years.

What it did teach him is how to better price his services, as one of his biggest contracts he lost was actually costing the company money to service.  This is a valuable lesson for all business owners and one that I imagine is true of many companies out there – understand your value and price services accordingly. My dad always said to me ‘any fool can work for nothing’ and this is so true. Whilst as a business owner we want to provide an amazing experience for clients, we are here to make a profit, as our clients’ businesses are.

Anyway, back to my client, today is his last day in the office and I am sure as I type this on Friday afternoon, he has already knocked off early (for the first time ever!) and headed somewhere to toast a successful career.

I am so fortunate to have a job where I see this sort of thing happen regularly, and see the amazing things people do with their lives post-work. It is also great fun for us at WKM, as now we get to switch focus from accumulation to decumulation and, essentially, we become an employer for the client, as providing a sustainable and attractive level of income becomes one of our key goals.

I will be jumping in the car to go and see the client next week and I will be looking forward to offering my congratulations in person. We will then firm up the good planning we have been working on in recent times, and making sure he can go and enjoy life post-work and not worry about where the next pay cheque is coming from.

What a great end to the week! Thanks for reading.