The company that was fine

In 2024 I closed a company my whole family built.

Pacalpa. Alpaca sweaters. Dreamed up in Argentina, run from Scotland, knitted in Peru by people who'd been doing it for generations.

Five years.

It wasn't a failure. It wasn't a success. It was something worse.

It was fine.

Fine pays the bills and eats your life.

I remember the exact moment. Unpacking a box from Peru at the kitchen table. Perfect garments. Beautiful work. And I felt nothing.

That's the signal. Not the numbers. The nothing.

I've started eight companies. Sold two. Closed a few. The closings taught me more than the exits.

A sold company tells you that you were right.

A closed company tells you who you are.

If you're running something that's "fine", I'm not telling you to close it.

I'm telling you to check if you still feel the box.