Look Left, Look Right, Step Up by The Gent

It’s now the mid-80s and a close friend, who lived in Buffalo, asked me to buy into a machine shop with him and another guy. My friend was a minority person. There was legislation passed by the Federal Government that stated, … “they had to offer one-third of their federal contracts to minorities.” The deal seemed to be a good one. The only problem was that the machine shop was in North Tonawanda, Buffalo. I went up there and met his friend. It all appeared very good. I was looking for a new adventure. I was shown the shop and incoming invoices and was given a new company car. How does the saying go, All that glitters….?”

Of course, with getting new invoices comes the fact that you need funding to buy supplies. I started sending money transfers up North when needed. In the beginning, the profits were lucrative. I had trusted my good friend would be looking after our business. That was one of several mistakes. After all, I was driving a new car, I owned a business with a minority owner and the invoices kept coming in. Before you knew it, I had sent over $65,000 up North and suddenly no one was calling me back!!

I finally got a hold of my friend and with this pathetic, sad voice said, “Bryan (the other partner) and his Honduran girlfriend (she was his secretary) disappeared with all our funds to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I know, but you can’t make these things up. It took me 2 years to pay back the friends I owed money to. Yes, I thought I was a "Big Shot" but in reality, all does not appear the same when you look in the mirror and ignore what is there. My best advice would be, “Be cautious about everything and everybody when going into a business, and don't let the business be too far away.”