Connections!

When I was at Mom's this week I was telling her about a friend of mine that I really respected because he and his wife had adopted two children and no matter what business he owned either outright or jointly he was very instrumental in making those businesses successful. Mom asked how I met him. When I told her how I became to know him she was kind of amazed at the story. As an example of how one connection will often lead to another connection I am going to share the story with you here.

When I first started my business I designed some flyers and hired an artist friend to do the art on the flyers. She was an amazing artist, often doing the drawings for what was then Meir & Frank ads. On the left of the flyer was a man sitting on the beach with a drink in his hand with a big smile on his face, on the left side of the flyer was a man sitting at his desk being attacked by a huge roll of adding machine tape. On the left the caption was "they filed early and are enjoying their refund." On the right the caption was "he waited until April 15 to file his tax return." Then I walked through the residential neighborhood closest to my office and handed out the flyers.

I ended up getting four or five new clients from the flyers. The business that the flyers generated probably wasn't worth the cost of the flyers. At least the first year it wasn't. One of the new clients was a single guy that just had a W-2 form and was a very easy tax return. He told me he called me because he couldn't fathom that there was an accountant in the area with a sense of humor. A couple of years later C.J. quit his job as a sales manager and formed a glass company with a friend of his. They brought in a third partner that they had done business with in the past. He was from Kansas and had to move out to the Portland area to become a one-third owner of the glass company. The glass company became on of the largest glass companies in the Metro Area. Because they formed a corporation in each city that they opened up a glass shop it became a huge junk of business for me. Eight corporate tax returns, three individual tax returns. The company accountant was the wife of the man that moved here from Kansas. Five or six years later two of the partners became upset that the wife of the man from Kansas knew to much about their business and their profits. She was doing a great job and was the type of person that just worked and kept her mouth shut. She was really one of the reasons the company was so successful. The two guys basically told the Kansas guy that his wife had to go. Kansas told the other two if the wife goes, he goes. So the two guys bought him out. Because of ethics you can't represent both sides in a partnership dissolution, it is a conflict of interest, I had to choose which side I would represent. I chose the guy that stood up for his wife.

That is how I became friends with the man and his wife that adopted two children. He used the funds from the glass company buyout to purchase a heating and cooling company. Which is now probably the largest heating and cooling company in the Portland area. Remember the football party we had earlier this month? It was at the home office of the heating and cooling company. The glass company that the man left? Their business went way downhill and while it is still operating you don't hear much about them anymore. There used to be frequent stories about the success of the glass company in business journals, now you are lucky to see one of their trucks every six months.

Do you have any unusual stories of how you became friends with someone? A business associate? A social friend? What about how you met your spouse? Would love to hear those stories!

TODAY'S TRIVIA:

Yesterday's answers: Father & Sons, National anthems either official or unofficial, they all are flat, points of the Bermuda Triangle, and they were all were crucified.

A boat, a tug of war, and the nightly news.

Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. Other than being presidents. Think college not funerals.

Philadelphia, Annapolis, and New York. In addition to being cities.

A wagon, a weed, and a practical joke.

Quarrymen, Johnny And The Moondogs, and The Silver Beatles.