I'm at an annual Safety Training and Benefits meeting for Client X. I've helped a couple of their employees lately, and everyone loves me. I'm enjoying a delicious catered lunch with the best potatoe salad I've ever had, I check my messages, and I have a frantic call from the office manager of Client Y.
Client Y has an employee, Mr E, who I have worked with the last several years. His wife has a rare condition that will take her life sooner rather than later, but she has outlived her diagnosis prognosis already, and because when you Google her condition, it is not considered "Terminal" (life expectancy less than a year), we have been able to get some Life Insurance on her as a rider on coverage on him, and some other coverage with Pre-X waiting provisions. Every year, I sit down with Mr E and we try to find a way to get more beneficial coverage on Mrs E. 8 months ago at Open Enrollment, I was trying to convince him to add to an old policy, and he finally declined to change anything on the Life coverage, and joked how he didn't want to mess with anything "so she will at least collect on me when I kill myself". Haha. He is the shop manager, and this morning he hung himself in their shop before anyone else got in. So after dealing with that, they are desperately trying to figure what he has that Mrs E (totally disabled) can possibly collect on.
So I get thru the meeting with Client X, and I rush out to Client Z. Client Z has a new bookkeeper/office manager I need to meet with, and has been out the last couple of times I had tried to visit Client Z. I'm surprised client Z has a new bookkeeper, because of what happened last year.
Owner A of Client Z I have known for a while. He had one location for his business for years. A few years back, Owner A took Partner B under A's wing, first as an employee, then after B left, he convinced B to come back as a partner in the business with the goal of expanding to several locations, which they soon did. Owner A is older, and though A has 2 children, neither are executive material. One is a barely competent store manager, the other is a very good technician, but because of some issues, is not management material in any way. So Partner B ran things day to day as Owner A pulled back.
Almost a year ago, partner B ate a bullet. Turns out B had massive drug and gambling debts, has had several affairs, including with a key employee F of Client Z. B had stolen a few hundred thousand from the business, had opened an "office" 50 miles away in his hometown, which turned out was really just a shack-up pad. When it got to the point B thought he couldn't hide anything else, B committed suicide. One of the store managers saw Employee F trying to sell 10s of thousands of dollars of B's equipment on Craigslist - the day of the funeral. So B's spouse left a high paying job in a totally unrelated field to step in and help run things and unwind some of the messes. Turns out Spouse B seems to have an aptitude for the new business, and quickly won everyone's respect.
Owner A told me then how he felt terrible for Spouse B, and was going to be patient and forgiving as much as possible while B sorted life out, and would not worry about any repayment right away, if ever. A's such a good person, if not a little too generous and trusting.
So I'm surprised that Client Z has a new bookkeeper. Spouse B had been doing that, among other things, and doing everything seemingly well. But Client Z had been struggling, because after the drama and housecleaning as part of the B legacy, they can't find enough employees to run all their locations. This is now a common problem in this area, and in their industry and in related industries. I get to Client Z, a half hour away, and bookkeeper C is not in, a day after insisting on rescheduling our appointment. I'm led to believe C had an 'issue' that required working from home today.
I go around the corner to drop in on Mr D, who is a mutual friend of Owner A and myself, and also works with Client Z. He asks me why I was there, I tell him I was right up the highway to see bookkeeper C and Spouse B at Z. He tells me that Spouse B has been "fired" recently, because Spouse B started stealing money from Z and Owner A just like Partner B had. Spouse B still owns half the LLC, but is now no longer part of the biz. Then he tells me, though he shouldn't, but I would find out anyway, that bookkeeper C was diagnosed with cancer - yesterday. Had I met with C July 1st rather than August 1st - C and family would have at least been set financially.
So how was your day?
Client Y has an employee, Mr E, who I have worked with the last several years. His wife has a rare condition that will take her life sooner rather than later, but she has outlived her diagnosis prognosis already, and because when you Google her condition, it is not considered "Terminal" (life expectancy less than a year), we have been able to get some Life Insurance on her as a rider on coverage on him, and some other coverage with Pre-X waiting provisions. Every year, I sit down with Mr E and we try to find a way to get more beneficial coverage on Mrs E. 8 months ago at Open Enrollment, I was trying to convince him to add to an old policy, and he finally declined to change anything on the Life coverage, and joked how he didn't want to mess with anything "so she will at least collect on me when I kill myself". Haha. He is the shop manager, and this morning he hung himself in their shop before anyone else got in. So after dealing with that, they are desperately trying to figure what he has that Mrs E (totally disabled) can possibly collect on.
So I get thru the meeting with Client X, and I rush out to Client Z. Client Z has a new bookkeeper/office manager I need to meet with, and has been out the last couple of times I had tried to visit Client Z. I'm surprised client Z has a new bookkeeper, because of what happened last year.
Owner A of Client Z I have known for a while. He had one location for his business for years. A few years back, Owner A took Partner B under A's wing, first as an employee, then after B left, he convinced B to come back as a partner in the business with the goal of expanding to several locations, which they soon did. Owner A is older, and though A has 2 children, neither are executive material. One is a barely competent store manager, the other is a very good technician, but because of some issues, is not management material in any way. So Partner B ran things day to day as Owner A pulled back.
Almost a year ago, partner B ate a bullet. Turns out B had massive drug and gambling debts, has had several affairs, including with a key employee F of Client Z. B had stolen a few hundred thousand from the business, had opened an "office" 50 miles away in his hometown, which turned out was really just a shack-up pad. When it got to the point B thought he couldn't hide anything else, B committed suicide. One of the store managers saw Employee F trying to sell 10s of thousands of dollars of B's equipment on Craigslist - the day of the funeral. So B's spouse left a high paying job in a totally unrelated field to step in and help run things and unwind some of the messes. Turns out Spouse B seems to have an aptitude for the new business, and quickly won everyone's respect.
Owner A told me then how he felt terrible for Spouse B, and was going to be patient and forgiving as much as possible while B sorted life out, and would not worry about any repayment right away, if ever. A's such a good person, if not a little too generous and trusting.
So I'm surprised that Client Z has a new bookkeeper. Spouse B had been doing that, among other things, and doing everything seemingly well. But Client Z had been struggling, because after the drama and housecleaning as part of the B legacy, they can't find enough employees to run all their locations. This is now a common problem in this area, and in their industry and in related industries. I get to Client Z, a half hour away, and bookkeeper C is not in, a day after insisting on rescheduling our appointment. I'm led to believe C had an 'issue' that required working from home today.
I go around the corner to drop in on Mr D, who is a mutual friend of Owner A and myself, and also works with Client Z. He asks me why I was there, I tell him I was right up the highway to see bookkeeper C and Spouse B at Z. He tells me that Spouse B has been "fired" recently, because Spouse B started stealing money from Z and Owner A just like Partner B had. Spouse B still owns half the LLC, but is now no longer part of the biz. Then he tells me, though he shouldn't, but I would find out anyway, that bookkeeper C was diagnosed with cancer - yesterday. Had I met with C July 1st rather than August 1st - C and family would have at least been set financially.
So how was your day?
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