viacin said:
It must have been hard watching someone mess up something you had worked so hard to grow and prosper.
It wasn't the highlight of my life, for sure. I was very proud of the fact that I created something from nothing, particularly that it was in an area where I had no education. It would have been nice to be able to say I had created the business, and it was thriving. That was my intention.
You can lead a horse to water, but..........
To his credit, the guy paid the debt entirely. I didn't lose any money, but the buyer ended up with equipment and nothing more. He paid the bill over a period of several years. I give him credit for that, but he is bitter because I wouldn't forgive the debt. I saw no reason to do so, for he purchased a good and viable business that had worth far beyond the purchase price.
Luckily, the entire transaction was carried out via an attorney. Everything was well documented, with the transaction registered with the State of Utah. Title to everything didn't transfer until the bill was paid entirely. I'll never know if he paid the debt as a result of the way the transaction was handled, or he was simply an honest man that had no business sense.
I am of the opinion that this individual makes bad decisions, and is the reason he is where he is today (he has not been successful in holding jobs). I gave him excellent guidelines in order to have a smooth transition of ownership. One of the things I advised was that he operate exactly as I did, and to not make any changes until the customers were familiar with him and he had gained their trust. The information fell on deaf ears, as he immediately started second-guessing the operation. The customers abandoned him in short order.
I am anything but a business man, but I was wise enough to provide exactly what the customer desired----having taken the clue from my very first customer, long before I expected that others would use my services.
Harold
edit: deleted a word that made no sense. Content otherwise unchanged.
