What should I do to not be "greedy"

[kaz]

Your money is yours. Don't be ashamed of being prosperous. And for the life of you, don't succumb to those liberals who think you're "greedy" for making a lot of money!

Do what you think is best, kaz.

Thanks Templar, I happily bought it. I only phrased the question that way for our liberal friends. I want to know what they think I should have done since I admit I didn't need the money. It was more, but nothing in my life has changed

 

[kaz]

This actually was a choice I had to make:

After a career in management and management consulting where I was embarrassingly overpaid, I risked everything and started my own business. I bought five businesses over three years. I spun two back off and merged the other three. There were a lot of difficult times, but over the last two years we have settled into year over year stability and profit and revenue growth. My life is pretty easy now and I have enough money. Sure, if I had a lot more it would change my life, but unless it's a lot more, it won't make any difference.

A year and a half ago, I had lunch with a friend of mine. He ran a business similar to mine, but about half my size. I proposed we merge and he would be COO and run operations and I would be CEO. Besides knowing each other, he knew my staff, I knew his, it would have been a good fit if he wanted to do it. We had a nice lunch and he said he'd think about it, but he said it would probably not work because we'd both want to run the company. I figured that before I asked, but I figured I'd throw it out there. About two weeks later, he had a brain aneurism and died pretty much instantly. We were the same age, wow.

---------------------------------------------

So here's the problem. I wanted to help out his widow and keep his staff employed, but liberals keep telling me that if I earn more than I need than I'm greedy, and I din't want to be greedy. So here were the choices, which would have I have done? The business was worth far more to me than anyone else because I knew his staff and I knew his business and I knew it folded right into mine. I also had the cash to close on a deal right away, and the widow wanted that badly.

1) Turn down the deal, let the widow know I'm sorry and let the jobs go. It's a difficult time to sell businesses, but she probably could get something for it and maybe they would have kept some of the staff, but hey, I can't earn more, I earn enough and I didn't need the money so it would have just been wrong for me to do that.

2) Buy the business and give all the earnings to the widow and her employees. OK, they turn out better, but I have to put up the money to buy the business, more money to operate it and I have to work harder to integrate it into mine and continue to run a company doing more work. I care about the people, but damn, I have to do all that and get nothing out of it?

3) Buy the business for a fair price so the widow is set, hire the people so they have jobs, and keep the money. But damn, I didn't need the money, so that would make me greedy.

So, those are the choices. Do I let the jobs go because I have enough money, do I spend my money and work for free or do I earn money that won't in any way change my life?

These BTW are the real choices you are giving business people and investors when you tell us we earned enough. What do you want us to do exactly? Please clarify

You said: I wanted to help out his widow and keep his staff employed, but liberals keep telling me that if I earn more than I need than I'm greedy, and I din't want to be greedy.

Liar. No one told you that. Why mess up a good delusion with a lie?

LOL, you don't see liberals saying that? You actually believe that?

 

[kaz]

if you pursue wealth for the sake of amassing a fortune which will not meaningfully better your life or the lives of those around you, than I suppose one could call you greedy

Why is that exactly? If you like business and want to keep doing it, why is that bad? And as to the point in my question, as you keep "amassing a fortune" then you keep creating more economic value and creating more jobs, so why is that bad in any way?

A big reason I actually bought the business is I like business. What is wrong with that?

 

[kaz]

Because you used this thread as a vehicle for a really stupid lie about liberals

This is why it's not possible to have a real conversation with liberals. You are just flat out intellectually dishonest. Whether you want to apply what liberals constantly say to my situation or not, to say it's a "really stupid lie about liberals" and you don't know what I am talking about is frankly a "really stupid lie"

 

[PaintMyHouse]

Capitalism is amoral. Now you know. And if you don't want to be greedy pay your staff well and give them a share of the profits. That works well for many companies.

 

[TemplarKormac]

This was an act of compassion, not one of self interest. It would serve you far leftists well to know the difference.

It is also ironic that far leftists speak of compassion and mercy, but only evoke it when it comes at the expense of the taxpayer. "Think about the poor people, the women, and the children! Don't be greedy!" Hah, in reality none of you would open your door to or give a penny to someone in need. Hypocrites.

You don't force generosity and compassion at the proverbial point of a gun. Never.

 

[kaz]

1, buy out the widow.
2, Tell the employees you have work for those wanting work.
3, YOUR buying that half of the company SAVES their jobs. Remind them.
4. Try and find someone from his employment lineage to lead that part of the crew..

I'm not sure what you mean by buying "half" the company. I either had buy it or not. And if I didn't buy it, I didn't have jobs for them or the money to pay the widow unless it came out of my pocket. Actually I would have hired his right hand woman I mentioned, but no one else had the work not come with it.

Everyone wanted to come with me. They and my staff already largely knew each other already. To explain that, we were in the same general business, but my organization was stronger in services and they were stronger in production. I wanted enough in house production to have flexibility but not enough to have people idle in slow times, services are higher margin. So when we had boom times, I outsourced our extra production work to his organization. We trusted them to not go after our customers, they never betrayed that trust. I don't mean everyone knew everyone, but my organization and his already worked well together, a key reason I'd proposed a merger.

4. Try and find someone from his employment lineage to lead that part of the crew..

That would have been too inefficient, redundant organizations doing the same thing. I redesigned the organization to fit them together. His right hand man (actually a woman) ran customer service, my right hand man (actually also a woman) runs design and production. The rest of the organization I fit together like that.

6, What the employees need to understand is with his death and your purchase who and what they worked for no longer exists.

You're right about that, that was the hardest part of the merger. I mean really he dropped over and died on the spot, so it was like a bolt of lightning to them. They really came in lost. I wouldn't say they objected to the merger, but they really needed to be built up again

 

[kaz]

This actually was a choice I had to make:

After a career in management and management consulting where I was embarrassingly overpaid, I risked everything and started my own business. I bought five businesses over three years. I spun two back off and merged the other three. There were a lot of difficult times, but over the last two years we have settled into year over year stability and profit and revenue growth. My life is pretty easy now and I have enough money. Sure, if I had a lot more it would change my life, but unless it's a lot more, it won't make any difference.

A year and a half ago, I had lunch with a friend of mine. He ran a business similar to mine, but about half my size. I proposed we merge and he would be COO and run operations and I would be CEO. Besides knowing each other, he knew my staff, I knew his, it would have been a good fit if he wanted to do it. We had a nice lunch and he said he'd think about it, but he said it would probably not work because we'd both want to run the company. I figured that before I asked, but I figured I'd throw it out there. About two weeks later, he had a brain aneurism and died pretty much instantly. We were the same age, wow.

---------------------------------------------

So here's the problem. I wanted to help out his widow and keep his staff employed, but liberals keep telling me that if I earn more than I need than I'm greedy, and I din't want to be greedy. So here were the choices, which would have I have done? The business was worth far more to me than anyone else because I knew his staff and I knew his business and I knew it folded right into mine. I also had the cash to close on a deal right away, and the widow wanted that badly.

1) Turn down the deal, let the widow know I'm sorry and let the jobs go. It's a difficult time to sell businesses, but she probably could get something for it and maybe they would have kept some of the staff, but hey, I can't earn more, I earn enough and I didn't need the money so it would have just been wrong for me to do that.

2) Buy the business and give all the earnings to the widow and her employees. OK, they turn out better, but I have to put up the money to buy the business, more money to operate it and I have to work harder to integrate it into mine and continue to run a company doing more work. I care about the people, but damn, I have to do all that and get nothing out of it?

3) Buy the business for a fair price so the widow is set, hire the people so they have jobs, and keep the money. But damn, I didn't need the money, so that would make me greedy.

So, those are the choices. Do I let the jobs go because I have enough money, do I spend my money and work for free or do I earn money that won't in any way change my life?

These BTW are the real choices you are giving business people and investors when you tell us we earned enough. What do you want us to do exactly? Please clarify

I bought five businesses over three years.

At this point the Libs here started to feel uncomfotable....

To have one business and not rely on government freaks them the fuck out.
To have more then one business drives them nuts....
At this point you are way past greedy....

And remember what Lizzie and Obama said....
You really didn't build those businesses up....

And it was even worse then that. Up to that point it was five businesses, after that it's now six...

And no, I didn't build it, Obama did, I admit that

 

[kaz]

Capitalism is amoral. Now you know. And if you don't want to be greedy pay your staff well and give them a share of the profits. That works well for many companies.

They do get a share of the profits. Sales gets commissions, the rest get salary and annual bonuses and quarterly bonuses based on the profitability of the company and their contribution to it. They also get bonuses when they do things above and beyond their duties, like when non-sales people bring in customers or they work over a weekend or several late nights to deliver a project on a tight schedule. Most of what's left I put back in the business to keep it funded and take advantage of growth opportunities, like this. I just get whatever is left after that, I'm last in line

You really don't know how this works, do you?

 

[kaz]

This was an act of compassion, not one of self interest. It would serve you far leftists well to know the difference.

It is also ironic that far leftists speak of compassion and mercy, but only evoke it when it comes at the expense of the taxpayer. "Think about the poor people, the women, and the children! Don't be greedy!" Hah, in reality none of you would open your door to or give a penny to someone in need. Hypocrites.

You don't force generosity and compassion at the proverbial point of a gun. Never.

And then they still don't walk away from a dollar themselves, do they Templar?

 

[kaz]

Sounds like a personal problem, but it's like this: Don't work yourself into an early grave, don't take food off of a poor man's table and most importantly, don't let your possessions own you.

Thanks! I don't believe I do any of those. I work to live, I don't live to work, but you spend so much time at your career it's important to do something rewarding, and that involves work. Now I'm in my 50s and I'm deciding where to go from here. I feel I've paid my dues, I am glad I worked my ass off the last 30, but I don't plan to do that the rest of my days

 

[PaintMyHouse]

Capitalism is amoral. Now you know. And if you don't want to be greedy pay your staff well and give them a share of the profits. That works well for many companies.

They do get a share of the profits. Sales gets commissions, the rest get salary and annual bonuses and quarterly bonuses based on the profitability of the company and their contribution to it. They also get bonuses when they do things above and beyond their duties, like when non-sales people bring in customers or they work over a weekend or several late nights to deliver a project on a tight schedule. Most of what's left I put back in the business to keep it funded and take advantage of growth opportunities, like this. I just get whatever is left after that, I'm last in line

You really don't know how this works, do you?

I know exactly how it works, I'm a capitalist. That's why I voted the way I did and said what I said.

 

[kaz]

Capitalism is amoral. Now you know. And if you don't want to be greedy pay your staff well and give them a share of the profits. That works well for many companies.

They do get a share of the profits. Sales gets commissions, the rest get salary and annual bonuses and quarterly bonuses based on the profitability of the company and their contribution to it. They also get bonuses when they do things above and beyond their duties, like when non-sales people bring in customers or they work over a weekend or several late nights to deliver a project on a tight schedule. Most of what's left I put back in the business to keep it funded and take advantage of growth opportunities, like this. I just get whatever is left after that, I'm last in line

You really don't know how this works, do you?

I know exactly how it works, I'm a capitalist. That's why I voted the way I did and said what I said.

Right, you're a capitalist Marxist, I still don't know what that means

 

[TemplarKormac]

This was an act of compassion, not one of self interest. It would serve you far leftists well to know the difference.

It is also ironic that far leftists speak of compassion and mercy, but only evoke it when it comes at the expense of the taxpayer. "Think about the poor people, the women, and the children! Don't be greedy!" Hah, in reality none of you would open your door to or give a penny to someone in need. Hypocrites.

You don't force generosity and compassion at the proverbial point of a gun. Never.

And then they still don't walk away from a dollar themselves, do they Templar?

Indeed.

"Do as I say, not as I do."

 

[PaintMyHouse]

Capitalism is amoral. Now you know. And if you don't want to be greedy pay your staff well and give them a share of the profits. That works well for many companies.

They do get a share of the profits. Sales gets commissions, the rest get salary and annual bonuses and quarterly bonuses based on the profitability of the company and their contribution to it. They also get bonuses when they do things above and beyond their duties, like when non-sales people bring in customers or they work over a weekend or several late nights to deliver a project on a tight schedule. Most of what's left I put back in the business to keep it funded and take advantage of growth opportunities, like this. I just get whatever is left after that, I'm last in line

You really don't know how this works, do you?

I know exactly how it works, I'm a capitalist. That's why I voted the way I did and said what I said.

Right, you're a capitalist Marxist, I still don't know what that means

I'm a capitalist, who understands that Marx was more right than wrong. So was Adam Smith for that matter. You wouldn't like him either, if you knew him.

 

[emilynghiem]

This actually was a choice I had to make:

After a career in management and management consulting where I was embarrassingly overpaid, I risked everything and started my own business. I bought five businesses over three years. I spun two back off and merged the other three. There were a lot of difficult times, but over the last two years we have settled into year over year stability and profit and revenue growth. My life is pretty easy now and I have enough money. Sure, if I had a lot more it would change my life, but unless it's a lot more, it won't make any difference.

A year and a half ago, I had lunch with a friend of mine. He ran a business similar to mine, but about half my size. I proposed we merge and he would be COO and run operations and I would be CEO. Besides knowing each other, he knew my staff, I knew his, it would have been a good fit if he wanted to do it. We had a nice lunch and he said he'd think about it, but he said it would probably not work because we'd both want to run the company. I figured that before I asked, but I figured I'd throw it out there. About two weeks later, he had a brain aneurism and died pretty much instantly. We were the same age, wow.

---------------------------------------------

So here's the problem. I wanted to help out his widow and keep his staff employed, but liberals keep telling me that if I earn more than I need than I'm greedy, and I din't want to be greedy. So here were the choices, which would have I have done? The business was worth far more to me than anyone else because I knew his staff and I knew his business and I knew it folded right into mine. I also had the cash to close on a deal right away, and the widow wanted that badly.

1) Turn down the deal, let the widow know I'm sorry and let the jobs go. It's a difficult time to sell businesses, but she probably could get something for it and maybe they would have kept some of the staff, but hey, I can't earn more, I earn enough and I didn't need the money so it would have just been wrong for me to do that.

2) Buy the business and give all the earnings to the widow and her employees. OK, they turn out better, but I have to put up the money to buy the business, more money to operate it and I have to work harder to integrate it into mine and continue to run a company doing more work. I care about the people, but damn, I have to do all that and get nothing out of it?

3) Buy the business for a fair price so the widow is set, hire the people so they have jobs, and keep the money. But damn, I didn't need the money, so that would make me greedy.

So, those are the choices. Do I let the jobs go because I have enough money, do I spend my money and work for free or do I earn money that won't in any way change my life?

These BTW are the real choices you are giving business people and investors when you tell us we earned enough. What do you want us to do exactly? Please clarify

Can you leverage a buy out and sell it back to the remaining employees after you train the best choice to take over for the man who used to run it? Is there anyone in that group willing to mentor under you to take over?

You can turn this into a win-win situation. work out a fair deal to buy it to re organize it where you allow or train another person and board to take over and manage it from there where the workers have the option of becoming their own shareholders.

kaz if you are not in a position to mentor the remaining employees and mgmt to take over and pay back your costs for saving their company in the meantime, this is still a great opportunity. Why not contact a local business school with graduate students looking for an internship where the school might provide the mentoring? Or contact a nonprofit group that helps create jobs or business for Veterans? SCORE is a nonprofit of retired executives who offer assistance to nonprofits, usually in financial or management areas Free Small Business Advice How-to Resources Tools Templates SCORE. Could this be turned into a business opportunity to train a new owner to take over?
=============================================================
P.S. kaz I'm a liberal progressive Democrat who believes in microlending and business training, especially in areas of ownership management and self-govt, to uplift people from lower socioeconomic class but through the free market system and investing in education.

If you like my ideas or answers, will you please comment WHICH parts are doable or workable and which are not practical? So you can teach liberals how to exchange ideas effectively in order to cooperate on agreed solutions freely. And not force redistribution of wealth or taxes which doesn't address the root problem of why people aren't financially trained or equally educated. I prefer sustainable models of "teaching people to fish" and can cite progressive programs, including Grameen Foundation Connecting the World s Poor to Their Potential and Home

Also please reply if my response as a liberal is more helpful to solving the problems being complained about, or if Luddly Neddite's approach is more helpful. Please use this to teach us liberals which ways are the most constructive and which just create more hostility and division.

Why not use this economic opportunity for jobs and positions for Vets mentored by volunteer executives from the community or nonprofit groups, or business grad students mentored by their school, or maybe minority leaders to take over and own their first business?

 

[occupied]

Sounds like a personal problem, but it's like this: Don't work yourself into an early grave, don't take food off of a poor man's table and most importantly, don't let your possessions own you.

Thanks! I don't believe I do any of those. I work to live, I don't live to work, but you spend so much time at your career it's important to do something rewarding, and that involves work. Now I'm in my 50s and I'm deciding where to go from here. I feel I've paid my dues, I am glad I worked my ass off the last 30, but I don't plan to do that the rest of my days

Move somewhere warm, buy a sailboat, drink good booze, catch fish and do something rewarding to keep food on the table, worked for me.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Because you used this thread as a vehicle for a really stupid lie about liberals

This is why it's not possible to have a real conversation with liberals. You are just flat out intellectually dishonest. Whether you want to apply what liberals constantly say to my situation or not, to say it's a "really stupid lie about liberals" and you don't know what I am talking about is frankly a "really stupid lie"

Dishonest is you demanding that I answer and then conveniently forgetting to quote what I wrote.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

This was an act of compassion, not one of self interest. It would serve you far leftists well to know the difference.

It is also ironic that far leftists speak of compassion and mercy, but only evoke it when it comes at the expense of the taxpayer. "Think about the poor people, the women, and the children! Don't be greedy!" Hah, in reality none of you would open your door to or give a penny to someone in need. Hypocrites.

You don't force generosity and compassion at the proverbial point of a gun. Never.

And then they still don't walk away from a dollar themselves, do they Templar?

Indeed.

"Do as I say, not as I do."

Very telling that the admitted board welfare leech would say this.

 

[kaz]

Right, you're a capitalist Marxist, I still don't know what that means

I'm a capitalist, who understands that Marx was more right than wrong

Yes, as I said...