The $210K Business Lesson I Learned Early On

Let me tell you about the time that I lost a $210,000 commission because I failed to get things in writing (and a billionaire family's lawyer sent me a letter telling me that they'll never pay). Let this be a lesson to you, and also a note that sometimes you need to make expensive mistakes to learn and grow.

(Check the full redacted letter at the bottom of the article).

When you're young and fresh into business, it's very common to lose days and weeks to talking about ideas & possibilities, especially with people who aren't experienced in your industry but have money & status earned somewhere else. (This is another article for another time). Especially more so when they bring some of that money into your area of expertise.

It's easy to then get sucked up into the "ideas trap" of planning your industry-wide domination ideas (how you're going to buck the trend and do great business together). Sometimes it comes in the form of someone telling you - 'Hey we've got this big investment landed and are looking to buy some companies, if you introduce us to someone we like, we'll pay you a 5% finders fee' (paraphrased).

Nothing's more exciting than doing a business deal (I'm weird, I know) and your head starts spinning with possibility, especially when you're becoming well-known on a little platform (LinkedIn) for being 'the Ozzie esports guy' and have been around for long enough to know a bunch of great people.

Then you remember someone really smart you know who's looking to exit an interesting business, you make the connection and wait. Forgetting the golden rule to get something in writing so everyone is kept accountable and is on the same page.

A few months go by, you stay in fairly regular contact and then you learn that the business you introduced has been acquired by them! Bonza! (Defined: “Bonza” is a word typical to Australia. It means excellent, attractive, pleasing, remarkable, wonderful.) So you reach out to the business representative you first talked to congratulating them on the feat and asking when you should receive your pay.

Some time later after a few discussions you get a lovely letter in your inbox from a legal representation, claiming that not only was there no deal in place, but they wouldn't be paying you even if there was.

What a way to ruin a relationship with someone expeienced in such a small industry, and also what a way to teach me a solid lesson (and something I could write a short article about many years later).

I'm still friends with the guy who sold the business and from time to time I remind myself of the pain of being $210K short on where I should be - Right next to how I should have not panic solid my first Bitcoin in 2017 ??

I have made plenty of other mistakes in business that can be valued at between $100 - $50,000 but this particular one was my largest.

I see them all as learning experiences and use that to prove to myself that the 5 years I ran an agency was as much experience as working 15 years in the industry for anyone else.

Don't be like me - get things in writing! ??