As I reflect on the past 39 years of business and 70 years of life on this earth, I have learned many, many lessons. To share my most important lesson, I have to turn the clock back to 1970. At that time I entered into a contract with a very good client and a personal friend (so I thought). I agreed to do a job for the sum of $50,000. If one compares those numbers to current dollars, that was a very formidable contract.
All previous business I did with this person resulted in prompt payment. My contract called for payment within 30 days of completion. Additionally, I received a “downstroke” of $10,000 before the job started. What more could one ask for? Doing business with a good personal friend and customer who always paid his bills on time — no reason to suspect that anything might come crashing down.