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'd be tempted to go for Option 3 unless you're sure you can manage financially with Option 1. It's easy to suggest other people take risks.

Is there anyway you could buy the advice / support that this guy offers? Could you have some-one on a retainer for less than your paying to this couple so you have a hand-hold as you develop your own skills?

Option 1.

Your gut isn't trusting her. Always listen to your gut.

Option 1

Thanks, more great suggestions.

I think the poster who suggested walking away and spinning it as a successful mentorship is spot on. You clearly know how PR works!

I could probably walk away and pay him for further training. He offers professional training courses and in any case - they are still charging me for attending these training courses anyway. Geez I am a complete idiot.

I think I may plump for option 3 for a few weeks until I can get my website up and running and get a decent ad campaign in place. Given there is hardly any work with them it will not take much to match what I am currently not earning. 100% of 0 is still 0.

The more I see of her and how she operates the less I trust her. The whole deal has been based on promises that have not materialised.

Surely there's something in writing to stop you approaching their clients for work, though? Will you be able to get enough work yourself?

BoomBoomsCousin It's a handhold I am hanging on for - I can either work a problem out out, get advice from a number of technical forums, or simply try and if I fail turn down the 5-10% of work that may be too difficult or time consuming.

I have been working on my own since just after Christmas and have solved every problem i have come across to date.

HollowTalk No there isn't because they were going to hand it to me anyway. There was talk of this though at the beginning.

Besides i want a different set of clients - i want to work directly with customers not B2B like i am currently doing. I work via agents at the moment who deal with customers, but I would much prefer dealing direct with customers.

I just want to highlight that something that's extremely common on Mumsnet (well, any similar forum, really) is for people to recommend a course of action that they wouldn't actually take themselves if they found themselves in the same situation. Whether it's leaving a moody partner (who you're financially dependent on), making a big deal about a workplace issue (when you're in your probation period), or ditching a friend for an un-PC remark (who you've known all your life), people are constantly recommending things motivated primarily by a sense of justice rather than an eye to the consequences. Everyone wants to see the world set to rights, when it's not them who has to pay for it.

So the key thing, when you pose a question like this, is to listen to people's arguments, not their conclusions. Ignore the fact that everyone's saying "option 1" - the main value you should take away from this thread is factors that you hadn't properly considered or weighted. I guarantee that others aren't properly considering or weighting all your factors! So incorporate everyone's thoughts into your own analysis, but make the decision based on that analysis, not based on our votes.

The one thing that I'll throw in is that you should consider attempting to get a contractual commitment to the "hand it over in a year" thing - the reaction you get when you bring that up will tell you a lot. (And if you were to continue working because of that promise, you'd be a fool if you didn't have it in writing.)

Option 1

Put your time and energy into making your business work (not fending off this stupid woman).

Thanks Pants.

Yes agreed! It's easy to take other people's risks - i've seen enough LTBs here to know that :-)

I have read some very interesting points I'd not fully considered or even thought of at all. The more I read the more it makes me think i am being used. There are other things I've seen / experienced that really now are waving like big massive house sized red flags at me. My husband thinks it's a rip off for me too and wants me to walk away but I was not sure hence my question to you all.

I am overly trusting sometimes and I think this is a key example.

I’d do option 1, sounds like you’ve got this. Good luck!

I'm a Risk Manager so not inclined to take risks but I say option 1. It sounds like this is more of a confidence than a knowledge issue (I suffer from imposter syndrome myself) and as much as you might be able to learn from this guy it doesn't sound like the set up will really facilitate this. Good luck!

The other thing to consider is if you’d even want it in a year. Do you want a business that’s potentially run into the ground? She won’t talk financials, so you’ll have no idea if it’s actually profitable, or what you’re taking on.

I think you’re doing the right thing by taking option 3 for a short while. By the sound of it, they’re not throwing much your way so if won’t take long to do. I wouldn’t generate any business for them. That 85% chunk they want you to do for free and the proceeds of the work should be all on your venture.

I would be very dubious if the business were worth much in a years time with her at the helm. So I don’t think hanging on in there is a good ide. Hopefully you’ll be up and running soon.

Option 1

I say as someone who runs their own business as a sole practitioner. I work hard and my profits are all mine. As is my reputation!

I am pretty experienced in my field but I don't hesitate to ask more senior people for advice when I see them at network/training events/ online groups

Good luck

Walk away now. It won't improve.

Pants - When i asked for confirmation of what she was proposing in writing via the politest email imaginable she responded by calling me up and shouting at me. She 'couldn't believe' i did not trust her and extremely grudgingly wrote down in an email what she had said. Which i cannot afford to challenge legally in any way. But having reread it there are multiple get outs for her anyway which initially I didn't clock.

PS. I've spent the last 16 years as a Mentor to SMEs in the technical centre. I would walk away from this.

centre = sector

I'd do 1.

I would not waste any more time or effort on them. Go, and go now!

Please be careful of doing 3 in case they come back at you for "nicking" their non existent business/client base.

When someone has a track record of throwing wobblies at everything, it's tough to know whether this particular wobbly is a red flag that they don't intend to honour their promise, or just her being her - but fundamentally it doesn't matter. It would be unwise to actually rely on this promise being fulfilled without a watertight agreement, so if sticking around only made sense if that were something you could rely on, don't.

If Boris Johnson offered to give you £350 million a week in a year's time, would you trust him to deliver?

Don't take the "servitude on a promise" option.

I said earlier option 1 - I’ve done it, twice. It’s not just lip service from me.

OP is not just working for the business providing a service, they are also doing 100% of the client acquisition for 50% of the revenue. It’s structurally non-sensical, as it is, to set up independently is not really much less risk than the current set up but double the reward.

I would avoid option 3 because it’s a bit “grubby”. There is a clear conflict of interest and they can pursue you for this legally (along with any potential client poaching) if they can prove you set up concurrently. Just make a clean break of it, set up for yourself and make a go of it.

Also, I can’t believe there are many business owners who say “work for me for a year and it’ll all be yours” and mean it. Why would they sacrifice everything they’ve built up over the years and worked hard for? Does she even have the right to do so? What’s the structure of the business?