I need help, not sure where else to turn. This is really driving me crazy. I know the decision has to come from me, but I'm all ears, here. I'm a single dad who was doing alright pre-inflation, but now seem to be closer to paycheck to paycheck every week. Sorry for the novel..
On the one hand, I'm almost guaranteed a promotion at my corporate job. With the promotion comes about a 40% raise from what I'm making now. Benefits are very good. Inexpensive but good health insurance with dental and vision. Matching 401k as well as a pension plan paid 100% by my company that should hit around 300+K by the time I retire. 4 weeks of vacation plus a week of personal time, HSA account, short and long term disability, life insurance etc. The thing is this work is pretty labor intensive(Get's a lot less physical but not completely gone with a promotion) my knees are on the verge of shot, shoulders not far behind. The constant “We're doing good but not good enough” where no matter what numbers you hit it isn't enough for the hierarchy. There's a lot of belittling and being talked down on from managers and people with higher positions then you. It's just to a point where I really dislike working for my employer but a sizeable raise is exactly what I've busted my ass for and would help me and my son a lot.
The alternative is a small business job I've worked part time for the last 10months. I am an online sales rep, also do videos, photos, and all the social media for the company. I just built a Shopify page for this business(Not a brag, I have no experience but pulled it off so anyone could lol). Owner is super laid back and helpful and there's a small, supportive, and most of the time fun staff. The owner is trying super hard to get me to come on full time. The pay he is offering is pretty equally matched to what I make at my current job before my promotion, but also has commission. If we sell the numbers he thinks possible and wants to hit, I would make more than my current jobs promotional pay. Benefits are a lot worse but they still offer health insurance and dental(No vision). Matching 401k but no pension. No disability or life insurance security. Only offers 1.5 weeks of time off the first year(But allows unpaid time off whenever needed). Virtually no physical labor. I have way more fun here and it feels like a family-my brother is the most tenured employee and him and I get along great. The boss has also offered me 4 day work weeks and allows me to work from home if I need to use my video editing software. If my son has to come into work with me for a little bit, there is no issue. I could never do that at my corporate job.
TLDR: Current corporate job that has great benefits is 99% likely to offer me a promotion with pay that would take me out of paycheck to paycheck but I'm exhausted from all the corporate BS that goes with it. Compared to a small business that has potential to pay more than my corporate promotion pay, but way worse benefits. High risk high reward for passing on corporate promotion and going to my way more enjoyable, riskier small business job full time. What would you do?