Fools Who Fail To Pay
I don’t promise people anything more than basic common sense when it comes to this book. And some people think that’s pretty unspectacular. But common sense is oh so important when it comes to moving forward in your career.
With all that goes on in our lives it becomes very easy to lose touch with the fundamentals. The most basic fundamental is that we expect to be paid for our work. In the majority of careers, getting paid what you are owed is a fairly straight forward process. People who work for large, established companies rarely have to worry about their pay showing up on time and in the promised amount. Not so for independent contractors and people working for newly started businesses.
The case of some of the folks at Blognation is a telling one. A disgruntled employee of this fledgling Web 2.0 (Two-Point-Oh) company posted an angry missive on both the company and personal website where he assails the company founder for failing to pay monies due to his contractors. This is a sad, but preventable situation.
Lesson one of Welcome To The Beehive implores you to protect yourself first in all business situations. Remember that even though we like to have faith in individuals and organizations we also have to live by some hard and fast rules in order to keep moving ahead in business. One hard rule should be that if you expect to be paid then you should stop work as soon as you are not paid. I know that people tend to think that, “If I keep working then maybe I will get paid.” Here’s a news flash. If you keep working without pay then your employer has no incentive to pay you.
If you haven’t been fired you can bet that you are needed in order for the business you are working for to continue being successful. And if you are needed your absence creates a great incentive to pay you so that you will return straight away. If you leave a situation where you have not been paid and you never get your money then you probably weren’t going to get paid in the first place.
There’s an old saying that goes like this, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” So protect yourself and don’t follow the fool who foolishly fails to pay a person worthy of the pay they are owed.
December 8th, 2007 at 1:07 am
[...] Evidently social web ventures are all about trust. Try presenting trust at the supermarket when it comes time to pay. I’d rather protect myself against fools who fail to pay. [...]
December 8th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I guess you’re calling me a fool for waiting as long as I did to leave Blognation… that’s okay, I’ve been called worse. I will point out, however, that I do have a contract and in an interesting error on Sam’s part, that contract is not with Blognation but with Mr Sethi personally.
In other words I can go directly after his assets instead of having to try and pierce a corporate veil and then get stopped up against an insolvent concern. Nope. Sam has assets and failing receipt of full payment for the work I’ve done - and more importantly failure to pay Marc Orchant and his family for the work that Marc has done - will result in legal action against Sam.
I never thought that Sam was a rockstar, but I did think that he’d be smart enough to know that I wouldn’t just roll over if he failed to honor his contract. So, yes, perhaps I am foolish. I do want to believe that people keep their word and that a promise is every bit as good as a contract. Sadly in this case I’ve been mistaken and I don’t feel especially good about that.
Sam is a pretty convincing liar one on one. Look just how many people he’s duped and how many are still allowing themselves to be lead by the nose… It’s only when Sam deals with groups or the public that his facade falls apart since he seems to have trouble remembering what he said to whom.
Mark Twain had something to say about that. “the honest man has no need of memory, while the liar is a slave to his.” Maybe Sam should start taking Ginkgo?
Oliver Starr
December 8th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Oliver,
You are certainly not the first or the last person who’s ever been fooled by a smooth talker. I’ve been there myself which is one of the reasons why I put these works online. Other people can learn from our past mistakes.
I helped to run a restaurant in New York City for an owner who convinced people of some pretty amazing things. But at the end of the day he treated everyone like a tool to get what he needed. Even in that situation I made sure I got paid something. But after a certain amount of time I walked as well with many promises never fulfilled. Big lesson learned.
In situations like this both sides have to accept some culpability. Sam seems like a fool for not being straight with people who are supposed to help him build a strong business. Anyone with a contract hopes that the person keeps their word. But we’ve also got to look at track record. It sounds like Sam has none as a person running a business.
I give you credit for walking now. It looks like a few others are hanging in for the long haul. I don’t believe they will be rewarded for the extra effort.
Rob