Many years ago, an acquaintance of ours who we'll call Billestablished a soundproofing business in Brooklyn, New York, withhis friend Stan. It had the usual rocky start faced by most newbusinesses getting it established required a lot of hard work butafter 20 tough years Bill and his partner were at last happy withwhere their company stood. It had grown; it was successful; andtheir key employees were skilled, loyal, and reliable. Theunremitting stresses and strains of owning a small business hadeased. Bill, an active and restless man who liked challenge and change, now worried about becoming complacent and losing his edge. Taking a proactive look at his situation, he began to evaluate hisneeds and concluded that he wanted to sell his half of thecompany. He thought he might go on to launch a new business ofsome kind. He shared his thoughts with Stan, and Stan indicated awillingness to buy Bill out. Then Bill started thinking about how to price his share of thebusiness. He knew that the company was worth $1,300,000, givinghis half a value of $650,000. But he felt that was much more thanStan could afford. He decided, tentatively, to set the price at $400,000. When he talked over his intentions with his wife, Marie, and their three grown children, however, they expressedconsiderable discomfort with the course he was considering. Theyremembered vividly, even if Bill himself didn't, the grueling tolltaken by the long hours and high stress of the early years spentestablishing and building the company. Was he really ready to gothrough that again at age 57?