Feeling he had everything in place, he started talking to a local company that produced advertising journals for various fishing tournaments. Through a friend he had found out that they weren’t happy with their present designer or printer and were looking for someone new. After explaining his plan to me, he asked if I’d be interested in meeting with them. I saw no real reason not to and agreed to a meeting.
Earl and Ethel's relationship wasn't going well by this point, so Earl first decided not to tell Ethel about his new venture, but in the end decided to run it by her. She immediately hated the idea and said no. Not wanting to scare me away, Earl in what would become routine, left this little detail out. Rather when I asked him if she liked the idea, he said yes. Knowing she like the idea, I asked her if she was excited with the direction Earl was taking the company. Like a raging bull she started screaming NO over and over again. When she finally stopped screaming she told me I needed to forget about it because it was never going to happen.
I don’t know may be it was the surprised look on my face, but for some reason Ethel decided I needed a detail explanation for her answer and opened up. First and most importantly, they needed to get the paper profitable before they took on anything else. Over their years together Earl had had lots of big dreams and money schemes. Some worked, others were horrible nightmares. All she could see was that the paper was going to be one of those nightmares and she wanted out before everything was gone. After all, she was now very comfortable and not willing to give up that comfort. Their IPO and later sale of the company had made her rich beyond her dreams. But after two years of owning the newspaper she was no longer able to pay her bills. She was constantly calling her stockbroker with orders to sell this or sell that and even worse, taking out loans against her portfolio. Having been down this road before with Earl, she felt she was too old to do it again. For her own protection she had to say no. Sorry but that was the way things had to be.
With my head spinning from what I had just told, I went looking for Earl to get his side of the story. I was now six weeks into this business relationship with them and from what Ethel had just told me, the situation had gone from “we have plenty of money to we can’t pay our bills.” Earl was furious with Ethel for telling me this and told me not to worry; they had plenty of money. And then said, “what do you want for a drunk who doesn’t know whether she is coming or going, don’t pay any attention to her.” Wanting this to work I decided he was right. After all, on more than one occasions I saw her drunk to the point of passing out by 6:30. But one more time, there was that annoying tapping on my shoulder asking me if I knew what I was getting myself into. And again, I reminded myself that this was a steady paycheck and with the prospect of this new extra work coming in, everything would be okay.
Since Earl was unable to change Ethel’s mind, he decided to schedule the meeting behind her back. Nothing was going to get in his way on making money, especially her. I didn’t like going behind her back, after all she was the one signing my check; but I hoped once we showed her that this was a profitable proposition she’d change her mind. And if Earl was right that her drinking clouded what was really happening with their finances, did I really need to worry about what she had told me?
Before the meeting Earl asked how I thought we should work out the billing and duties on these projects. He openly admitted that he had no idea on how to bill for something like this. I suggested that the design fee should be set by me on a per project basis. Further, I felt it best for me to contact various printers for bids since I had more knowledge of who could handle each individual project. Earl agreed and we also decided that our proposals would be quoted as a “one price for everything.” Our one price deal would included the design fee, printing charge as well as the industry standard of 15% markup on the printer’s price. Earl’s one and only duty was to secure more jobs. He agreed, but now questioned how they would split the money.
Since Earl was going to be spending his time marketing the company, splitting everything 50/50 seemed fair to me. Earl agreed and also agreed to take care of all billing issues. Our verbal agreement was in place and we were off to the races.
Earl and Ethel's relationship wasn't going well by this point, so Earl first decided not to tell Ethel about his new venture, but in the end decided to run it by her. She immediately hated the idea and said no. Not wanting to scare me away, Earl in what would become routine, left this little detail out. Rather when I asked him if she liked the idea, he said yes. Knowing she like the idea, I asked her if she was excited with the direction Earl was taking the company. Like a raging bull she started screaming NO over and over again. When she finally stopped screaming she told me I needed to forget about it because it was never going to happen.
I don’t know may be it was the surprised look on my face, but for some reason Ethel decided I needed a detail explanation for her answer and opened up. First and most importantly, they needed to get the paper profitable before they took on anything else. Over their years together Earl had had lots of big dreams and money schemes. Some worked, others were horrible nightmares. All she could see was that the paper was going to be one of those nightmares and she wanted out before everything was gone. After all, she was now very comfortable and not willing to give up that comfort. Their IPO and later sale of the company had made her rich beyond her dreams. But after two years of owning the newspaper she was no longer able to pay her bills. She was constantly calling her stockbroker with orders to sell this or sell that and even worse, taking out loans against her portfolio. Having been down this road before with Earl, she felt she was too old to do it again. For her own protection she had to say no. Sorry but that was the way things had to be.
With my head spinning from what I had just told, I went looking for Earl to get his side of the story. I was now six weeks into this business relationship with them and from what Ethel had just told me, the situation had gone from “we have plenty of money to we can’t pay our bills.” Earl was furious with Ethel for telling me this and told me not to worry; they had plenty of money. And then said, “what do you want for a drunk who doesn’t know whether she is coming or going, don’t pay any attention to her.” Wanting this to work I decided he was right. After all, on more than one occasions I saw her drunk to the point of passing out by 6:30. But one more time, there was that annoying tapping on my shoulder asking me if I knew what I was getting myself into. And again, I reminded myself that this was a steady paycheck and with the prospect of this new extra work coming in, everything would be okay.
Since Earl was unable to change Ethel’s mind, he decided to schedule the meeting behind her back. Nothing was going to get in his way on making money, especially her. I didn’t like going behind her back, after all she was the one signing my check; but I hoped once we showed her that this was a profitable proposition she’d change her mind. And if Earl was right that her drinking clouded what was really happening with their finances, did I really need to worry about what she had told me?
Before the meeting Earl asked how I thought we should work out the billing and duties on these projects. He openly admitted that he had no idea on how to bill for something like this. I suggested that the design fee should be set by me on a per project basis. Further, I felt it best for me to contact various printers for bids since I had more knowledge of who could handle each individual project. Earl agreed and we also decided that our proposals would be quoted as a “one price for everything.” Our one price deal would included the design fee, printing charge as well as the industry standard of 15% markup on the printer’s price. Earl’s one and only duty was to secure more jobs. He agreed, but now questioned how they would split the money.
Since Earl was going to be spending his time marketing the company, splitting everything 50/50 seemed fair to me. Earl agreed and also agreed to take care of all billing issues. Our verbal agreement was in place and we were off to the races.
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