Incompetent 'boss' - what would you do?

[Snorkers]

Not necessarily AIBU - but perhaps I ABU - i don't know!

I am an experienced business owner and since retraining I now work in a technical field. Last year I started doing freelance work for a tiny company within this field whereby i get paid per job and the company take an equal cut.

I am working alongside a more senior & very experienced technician - he however wants to semi retire so is now specialising in a niche, very profitable area and is leaving the more general work to me. I am fine with this and am really eager to learn as much as a can from him.

The issue is that he has given this more general area of his work to his wife to run as her own business. She is not a technician or in any way an experienced business owner.

Politely - she is pretty incompetent. She gets flustered really easily, cannot focus on what she is being told, gets quite stroppy when asked about details, particularly financials.

I was promised x amount of work per week but it turns out that they don't have any where near that much work, and I am expected to generate 85% the promised work using skills from my former role. And do this unpaid. She also asks or expects me to do all sorts of other stuff for her for free which is nothing to do with my job and I have started to say no to this now I've realised she is taking the P.

When I tried to discuss there not being enough work to make what i am doing financially viable she began getting stroppy, and I had to tell her to please behave more professionally and stop raising her voice to me. I have worked my socks off there, been super reliable and have given her no cause to take umbridge with me.

The 'model' they are working to is not how I would run any company and there are many flaws and ways to streamline the way the company operates. However - I have been offered this more general side of the business for free if i continue working there for a year as they will both then work in this niche area.

My dilemma is I really want to work alongside this experienced technician but I will be building up this business for the wife. Asides from the incompetence - whilst she has promised, there is no guarantee she will hand it to me in a year. I don't have money for legal fees so it's all based on trust, and she has done a few things that have caused me to question her trustworthiness, and also - i would significantly change how the business is run if it were mine anyway to the point it would look nothing like it does now.

So my choices are:

1. Walk away now and spend the time building my own business and developing my own technical knowledge - i will only need half the amount of work as i will not need to give anyone else a cut

1. Grit my teeth, take what work she gives me and see the year out so I can learn as much as i can from the technician which really is priceless

1. Carry on there whilst building my own business on the side, leaving when I feel confident and financially in a position to go it alone.

What would you do?

Thank you!

I would definitely do option 1. Can you manage financially in the meantime? Why should you build up her business when you could build up your own?

Option 1.

Tricky. Given your instinct about her trustworthiness and her incompetence I'd be considering 1. How confident are you that you can generate an income?

Option 1 for sure. Building up their business would mean if (when) they reneged on their promise to give you the business you would have used your contacts and find building your own business harder.

It really depends how valuable the experience of working with other person is to you. How long would it take to build up this knowledge by yourself? Is it effectively free training you would otherwise have to pay for?
If you're saving yourself a huge amount of time or cash by getting this training then it might be worth gritting your teeth for a short while.

I'm pretty confident I can do this alone and habe no problem with building this up myself (am a former PR and Marketing head)

The issue is the technical side - well not an issue - I am good at it, but bit scared to be out on my own with no one to turn to for advice!

However - sink or swim, i believe there's always a way to get what you need.

You need to be certain that you will get that part of the business in a years time or you could be wasting your time. Option 1 I say, cover your arse.

Option 1 I think will will better for you while you could learn from the technician you have a colleague you don't respect or want to work with and in any disagreement you would be stuck between the husband and wife. A no win situation.

I'm surprised most of you are saying go for 1. I am inclined to agree but thought it was risky. Maybe MN folk love to take risks!

Ok i will sleep on it a day or two and think of a viable self-extraction plan.

Thank you :-)

I don't have money for legal fees so it's all based on trust,

In your shoes I’d go it alone - build your business for yourself, you’ll learn as you go and the lessons will be invaluable. Your agreement with them isn’t worth the paper it’s (not) written on - what happens when you’ve built that side of the business and they decide not to hand it over? You’ll be in exactly the same position as you are now (trying to establish your own business), only you’ll have spent X time building the competition first.

Back yourself, put the time and effort into your own business.

I would go for 3. Use the time there to do the little work being handed to you, whilst learning from the technician, whilst ‘hustling’ on the side to get your own business set up. Then if the promise comes into fruition could you not amalgamate the two?

am good at it, but bit scared to be out on my own with no one to turn to for advice!

There's nowt like the fear factor to drive you on, just be prepared to learn fast and sometimes learn the hard way. Been there done it, it can be brutal but it's always worth the shot regardless of outcome.

Flufferbum
Yes I could - sorry not intending to drip feed - but he is so busy with the other side of things he's hardly around - I can always ring him but now i have written it all down and thought about it I am pretty much on my own right now anyway because they have been away for nearly two months and she is making a nuisance of herself directing the battle from their holiday home abroad.

So really I am doing it myself right now anyway - i think it is the idea of the support being there if i need it that is keeping me!

Walk away.

We love to take other people's risks

Ok - so reasons for staying:-

1. The “free” business. But you don’t trust her to give it you. Plus it isn’t exactly what you want anyway.

1. The chance to work with the technical guy. But you are not as he’s too busy.

1. Support / not feeling like you are on your own. Except the “support” you get is the wife being incompetent and unprofessional. And for that - you are giving them half your earnings. From the sounds of it you are bringing in 85% of the work and doing 100% of the work.

Do you make dentures??

You’ve got more to lose by staying. Being scared isn’t a reason not to take an easier route - you’ll have to go it alone sometime so why not now. Why not go out on a limb - that is where the fruit is.

*Isn’t a reason to take

runrabbitrunrunrun Hahaha! No, nothing like that. More engineering type of work.

Mumoftwoyoungkids I am indeed bringing in most of the work, doing 100% of the work, and taking less than 50% of the income.

When you spell it out like that what I am doing is nonsensical isn't it.

Oh how fabulous you all are - thank you so much this is really great advice.

I don't have money for legal fees so it's all based on trust

And you don't trust her already? Then don't pour a year of your work into it!

What exactly have they promised that you would get (in terms of valuable business assets) in a year's time?

Given that you're freelancing, I would think the risk of damage to your reputation wouldn't be worth the risk here. Presumably even if the wife isn't dealing with clients directly, her incompetency will filter through to the business's reputation. And if she's fucking up the financials, that's quite scary too.

I would either (1) put a proper, enforceable contract in place so you have some recourse if things go tits up (which they obviously will), or (2) walk away.

There are no other options that are tenable.

Walk away. Somehow you have bought into the myth that they are helping you to develop so you can grow your own business in the future. In reality they are using you to prop up the wife until she can take over it's not in their interest to train you to be her competition.

Meanwhile you are wasting energy developing their business and filling their customer list with your contacts. Not cool.

Just stay polite, gather all of your intellectual property and back away. Use your PR skills to spin it as a triumph of completed training and readiness.

Option 1. Just get on with it and make it a success - good luck.

Option 1 may seem more risky in the short term, but, given your unease about the wife’s trustworthiness, It’s less risky long term.

I think the question is - how much is the technical expertise (that you are actually able to access) worth to you? Has he really saved you from potentially costly mistakes or is it hand holding and a shortcut to stuff you’d work out yourself soon enough?

If the expertise that you are getting really is saving you a lot of money/time/lost business/law suits, can you access it in some other way - would he consult for you, x hours a week, if you went your own way? Could you find someone else who would provide that sort of mentorship? Or are there professional networks that could give you what you need?