The Adventures of Lee the SME Owner

The sun dipped low in the sky as Lee drove home, the familiar streets winding their way back to the house he shared with Julie. Despite the long day at the business, his mind wasn’t on work for once. It was on his family—the people he didn’t see nearly enough.

He pulled into the driveway, parked the truck, and sat for a moment. The house was quiet tonight. Julie had gone to spend some time with Susie and her daughters, Paula and Grace. That was something Julie did regularly, filling in the gap where Lee didn’t always fit.

Lee frowned. It’s not that I don’t care, he thought, rubbing his temples. But the truth was, he’d always put the business first. It hadn’t felt like a choice back then. He’d had to build it, keep it running, and prove to himself and his father that he could do it. Now, thirty years later, the cost of those choices was clear.

Susie, his eldest, was doing great on her own. She’d become a successful HR consultant, built her own life, raised two daughters, and handled everything with a calm competence that always reminded him of Julie. But the distance between them had been there for years. He’d missed so much of her growing up—late nights at the business, missed school plays, birthdays he’d been too busy to enjoy. Susie had learned early not to expect much of his time.

They’d never spoken about it, not directly, but Lee could see it in the way she smiled at him now. It was polite, a bit distant, as if they were two people who had once known each other well but were now just... acquaintances. And that bothered him.

Susie’s girls, Paula and Grace, adored Julie, and every time he saw them, there was always a flicker of guilt. He wasn’t the granddad he could be. He knew it. The times he did spend with them were nice, but they were brief—fleeting moments that left Paula asking why he didn’t visit more often and Grace looking up at him with wide, curious eyes.

Julie had hinted more than once that the girls would love to see him more. Susie had never said anything directly, but there were moments, like last Christmas, when he caught her watching him play with the girls, a quiet sadness in her eyes. She’d grown used to his distance, but she still wished, deep down, that he’d change. That maybe, just maybe, he’d spend more time with his family now that the business was doing well enough to not consume all of him.

And then there was Glenn.

Lee shifted uncomfortably in his seat, thinking about his son. Glenn, the youngest, had always been the wild card. While Susie had found her path early, Glenn had struggled to settle into anything. He’d drifted from one job to another, never quite finding his footing.

Lee had once thought Glenn could take over the business—he’d even quietly hoped for it. But Glenn hadn’t shown any real interest in engineering or the hard graft it took to run a company. And even if he had, Lee knew that with Glenn’s marriage on the rocks and his erratic behaviour, handing over the family business would be a disaster waiting to happen.

They clashed. Frequently. Lee had tried to offer Glenn opportunities to step up, but every time it ended in frustration. Glenn didn’t want to be told what to do, and Lee couldn’t help but see all the ways his son was unprepared to take the reins.

It had created a wedge between them, one that only grew deeper as the years passed. The last time they’d had a proper conversation, Glenn had stormed out, accusing Lee of not trusting him, of thinking he wasn’t good enough.

It’s not that I don’t trust him, Lee thought. It’s that he’s not ready. And unless something changes, he never will be.

Glenn had two kids of his own now—twins, Sammy and Delilah, both four years old. Lee saw them less than he liked. Between Glenn’s chaotic life and the tension between father and son, their visits had become infrequent. He missed those grandchildren more than he let on, but he wasn’t sure how to fix things. Every time he tried to reach out, Glenn pulled further away, and they’d end up fighting about something trivial.

Julie had suggested that he and Glenn needed to sit down and talk properly. But how could he do that when every conversation ended with both of them frustrated?

Lee sighed and finally got out of the truck, heading inside. The house was quiet, save for the soft hum of the fridge. He poured himself a glass of water and sat at the kitchen table, his thoughts churning.

Family. Business. They were both part of him, but he’d never found a way to balance them. It had always been one or the other, and more often than not, business had won. Now, with the business running well but feeling more like a weight than a passion, Lee wondered if he’d missed something vital.

Julie had been right when she said he was tired. He was. But it wasn’t just the long hours at the office. It was the distance—the distance between him and his children, between him and Glenn, between him and the life he could have had if he’d spent just a little less time worrying about the company and more time with the people who mattered most.

He didn’t know how to fix it. Not yet. But he knew he couldn’t keep going like this. Something had to give.

As he sat there in the quiet kitchen, Lee made a decision. He’d start small. He’d make an effort, with Susie, with Glenn, with the grandchildren. Maybe it wouldn’t fix everything, but it was a start.

Because one thing was becoming clear to him: the business wasn’t going to be his whole life anymore. He wasn’t sure what would come next, but he knew it was time to make space for the things—and the people—he’d been neglecting.

And as the sun finally set outside, casting the room in a soft glow, Lee felt something shift inside him. Maybe he wasn’t ready to walk away from the business just yet, but he was ready to stop letting it take everything from him.

For the first time in a long time, he felt the faintest glimmer of hope. It was time to reconnect—with his family, with his life, and maybe even with himself.

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