Then there was the client who had bought his business from his father. He paid $100,000, which was just about $100,000 more than what it was worth.
Worse, he borrowed most of the money in ways that gave him an effective average interest rate of over 26%!
Over a period of four meetings in the first month, we devised a 10-step process to modify his borrowing, renegotiate with certain vendors, correct some of his bookkeeping procedures, and alter his marketing approach. He was thrilled … except that after the month was done, he hadn’t done any of it.
I Fired Him as a client!
He asked me to stay and promised to keep paying me. Told me he really liked my ideas and wanted to continue working with me. My problem, I explained, was that unless he executed the plan – A Plan With Which He Was In Total Agreement – he would fail. And I could not afford to be identified as the coach of his failed business.
Six months later, he was out of business.