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Your
Mistake is Step One, Take Step Two
by Dr. Lynne
Curry
Question:
A year and six months ago, I opened my own small business. I’d
been unpaid and working for bosses I couldn’t stand for years.
Customers always told me I was the heart and soul of every
business I worked for and how much they liked working with me. My
family and friends knew my situation and loaned me money so I
could start the business. I guaranteed them all I’d pay them
back with interest.
When I opened my
business I took with me many of the customers for whom I’d
worked. Things started out great. Then, due to a misunderstanding
over a minor issue, I lost my largest client and my former boss
tied me up with litigation for "stealing" the other
clients. I still knew I could be a success but problems with the
two employees I hired set me back. Also, I’d gotten bad advice
and wound up paying more than I’d anticipated for both computers
and insurance.
I’m finally at
the point where I’m starting to make money but this obviously
took longer than I planned due to circumstances outside my
control. During the last year, I suffered economically. I want to
deep-six this business but I don’t know how to tell everyone I
made a mistake. How do I explain things?
Answer:
You tell them the truth. You took a risk. It didn’t work out as
you hoped.
What’s wrong
with telling everyone you made a mistake? We’ve all made a least
one. In fact, successful people make more mistakes than do others,
because they take more risks. Those who try to avoid making
mistakes risk mediocrity and stagnation. Those who hide mistakes
from themselves and others waste precious time and energy. Those
who face mistakes and acknowledge what they’ve learned, move
forward.
This may prove
hard for you. In your letter, you say you worked for bad bosses
and lost a client due to a misunderstanding. You say two employees
harmed you and you paid more for computers than you budgeted due
to bad advice. You seem to have a pattern of laying blame on
"circumstances outside your control."
In small
business, unfortunately, the buck stops on the owner’s desk. How
about acknowledging you underestimated the challenges of running a
business in several areas. First, you thought you could take your
former boss’s customers without realizing he might sue you.
Second, you apparently didn’t realize that equipment often costs
more than anticipated and that some employees may bring problems
with them.
In short, squeeze
the full learning out of this experience. In the same way that you
plan to step up to the plate and pay back your family and friends,
tell them and yourself the truth. You launched a new business
without accurately assessing the risks, however, you’re not down
for the count, just for the moment.
Question:
I work as the office manager for a small property management
company and weekly fax contracts to our vendors. They then fax me
the signed contracts.
Last month I
arranged with a contractor to work on one of our apartment
buildings. It was a small job and after he completed the work he
tried to change the terms of our agreement. I faxed him his signed
agreement and he said it wasn’t legally binding because faxes
were only considered "negotiations" and not binding
contracts.
I’ve since
resolved the problem with him but I need to know whether or not he
was right. I have too much to do to monitor whether or not all our
vendors follow up their faxed contracts with hard copy signed
originals. So, tell me, do I need to receive a hard copy of the
signed original because I can consider these contracts binding?
Answer:
Protect yourself when you rely on faxed contracts with five
guidelines. First, put a clause in the contract stating that both
parties agree to treat faxed signatures as originals. Second, make
sure you transmit the entire document and not just the signature
page. Third, ask each contractor to fax you a confirmation that he
or she received all the pages you sent. Fourth, for all major
transactions, take the follow-up time you need to obtain a hard
copy of the original signature. Fifth, on major projects, deal
only with those you trust.
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