My husband and I have three grown sons. While we have had this business going for almost 20 years, it has recently grown significantly with the purchase of a larger and more visible building in a well-traveled area. Our business relies on memberships, sales of merchandise, and training in the use of this merchandise. Up until two years ago, we did fine as a husband/wife team. Two of our three sons now work actively in the business. However, my husband is less active than he once was, and the two sons are on the fence about how much more time they want to devote to this business. The business hours have gone from 10:00 to 5:00 M - F, but now are 8 to 8, 7 days a week. We recently hired a person as an outside sales rep in another state. This person very much wants to move to the area, and work full-time for us. He is supremely qualified for the job, but my husband questions whether he wants to pay someone a salary, when right now, we make a living, and put everything back into the business. I strongly feel that we need this person in the business in order to build it to the level we want it to be at. I run the business as manager and trainer, and my husband works mostly as a salesperson and trainer. One son is a trainer, the other helps with the books. This outside person has the experience and the drive for all aspects of the job.
So I wonder if anyone out there has been in a similar situation and, if so, what words of advice would you give me?