848 – An Unscrupulous Partner
My friend Charles convinced me to go into business with him about a year ago. I wish I had had the benefit of hindsight to say “no.” I was too trusting and that was my downfall.
At first, everything was fine. We worked our butts off to get the business off the ground. But as soon as it looked like the business was going well, Charles turned on me. I had never been so deceived.
We never signed a formal partnership agreement. Since we were old friends, we relied on a verbal agreement that we would own the business 50-50. One day, out of the blue, Charles said that as the owner of the business, he had decided that my services were no longer needed. I told him he was crazy. I was co-owner and he couldn’t just fire me. He said that that was never the agreement and he was the sole owner.
And that is how I got cheated out of being co-owner of a successful business. My old friend Charles turned out to be unscrupulous. From now on, I’ll be watching my back and looking out for my own interests. No one will ever stab me in the back again!