Business Partner suspicious? Or am I paranoid?

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also, and I don't mean to plant this is your head but I'm guessing you're already wondering...

Are you suspecting partner is doing jobs, the ones didn't materialize from all the quotes, on the qt, and not marking it in the ledger ?
 
You say you filed an LLC. In Michigan, do you have to be licensed and insured, certified. Since this is the commercial forum and not begginers 101, who has the license, who has the certifications? That's the person that has the other by the dodads. In MD you have to have a MD Tree Experts License. You can make all the legal partnerships you want, means beans, if you are not licensed. You say you own all of the trucks, chippers, and equipment, but sounds like you are a two man crew. Who's running the extra trucks and chippers? The person with the smarts rules here. How did he loose half of $200? Seems if I have a wad of $20's and loose some, I loose it all. If I have two $100 dollar bills folded in my pocket and drop one, it drags the other with it. I think the smart one should give the other the boot and start over, hope you don't get the boot, Joe.
 
Depending on how much longer you are going to be laid up but, you might want to reach out to a private investigator and see how much it would cost to build some evidence that could be used in the court to show negligence. This would confirm if he really is lying to you and if he is it gives you the upper hand. You could possibly force him out of the partnership without actually going to court if your lucky. Any attempts dissolve the partnership with likely end poorly for your relationship. The best you can do is cover your own ass financially. If he agreed to dissolve his half of the partnership but keep the same compensation I believe his quality of work will start to diminish but that will be a test of character.
 
This guy is doing all the work right now and it is no excuse to cheat you but it may appear that way to him. You need to stop worrying about getting cheated right now and worry about getting fed. If you start dealing with this right now you will lose your workers comp payments. It sucks to get cheated but you need to suck it up and start doing the bidding and p.r. until you get better. You will probably get a larger percentage of your bids because you can show the danger and added expenses that come with the job to justify higher prices than what people expect. Forget about all this until you are capable of feeding yourself and concentrate on helping out where you can watch your money and take up some of the slack.
 
...You will probably get a larger percentage of your bids because you can show the danger and added expenses that come with the job to justify higher prices than what people expect...
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could also work against getting jobs if client understands that you got hurt because you weren't wearing ppe = irresponsible in their eyes. I wouldn't show battle scars to sell a tree service. I'm a landowner saw guy so ymmv
 
SirSawsAlot said:
his court order allows him to drive only if no passengers are in the vehicle....
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"Court order"? He's a criminal of some sort... and you wonder if he'd be inclined to cheat you?

If he can only drive alone, and you can't drive right now, it sounds like you both have handicaps.
 
The "court order" had me thinking also. We've had crew leaders get DWI's and lost their drivers license. They drove chipper trucks with two other guys in them. We had to write a letter to the Judge requesting a restricted license. The restricted license was granted and they were only allowed to drive to, at, and from work. The restricted license DID NOT make us go out and buy a new truck for the other two crew members to ride in. This thread is something else. First stated "just started a new business with friend", then stated " this is an established business with multiple trucks and chippers", with only one two man crew. One of the two crew members can't drive to the job site with the other one in the truck. Never got a response to which one has the license, insurance and certifications. This was posted in the "commercial forum", where guys that own or work for real Tree Company's hang out. Not "arborist 101" where rookies go to find a way into the business. All I can imagine is Mack and Myer showing up at my curb, Mack jumps out of the truck and lights up a smoke, and waits for Myer to come jogging up behind. Established business? How can a "NEW BUSINESS" be "ESTABLISHED"? Go figure. I need three more cups of coffee, I'm grumpy when I wake up, Joe.
 
The "court order" had me thinking also. We've had crew leaders get DWI's and lost their drivers license. They drove chipper trucks with two other guys in them. We had to write a letter to the Judge requesting a restricted license. The restricted license was granted and they were only allowed to drive to, at, and from work. The restricted license DID NOT make us go out and buy a new truck for the other two crew members to ride in. This tread is something else. First stated "just started a new business with friend", then stated " this is an established business with multiple trucks and chippers", with only one two man crew. One of the two crew members can't drive to the job site with the other one in the truck. Never got a response to which one has the license, insurance and certifications. This was posted in the "commercial forum", where guys that own or work for real Tree Company's hang out. Not "arborist 101" where rookies go to find a way into the business. All I can imagine is Mack and Myer showing up at my curb, Mack jumps out of the truck and lights up a smoke, and waits for Myer to come jogging up behind. Established business? How can a "NEW BUSINESS" be "ESTABLISHED"? Go figure. I need three more cups of coffee, I'm grumpy when I wake up, Joe.
 
rarefish383 said:
The "court order" had me thinking also.
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Exactly. What court restricts a driver to only being allowed to operate a vehicle alone? What would be the purpose of this? A limit on an occupational license due to an offence wouldn't restrict co-worker occupants, especially if the occupant also had the same license, and was both business partner and the vehicle's owner (I can imagine some restriction if it were a kid or maybe a non-employee).

To the OP: did you actually see this order in writing? Or did you mean there was an insurance restriction on passengers for him? (this may be possible, I suppose, but its not via a court)
 
I just had to rethink this a little. My cousin had one of his best climbers that was always in DWI trouble. He had a restricted license, and was allowed to drive, to and from, work only. He was not allowed any passengers at all when he was driving. But, he was not allowed to drive a truck at work either. His restricted license was issued to prevent a hard ship on my cousins business. It did not remove the punishment from the climber, by allowing him to ride people around. He also lost his DOT during all this mess. Anyway, I've got two cups down, starting to lighten up, Joe.
 
Wow your partnership has all the ingredients of what homeowners fear in a tree service. I'd be out before he gets a massive claim, seems he has absolutely nothing to lose...
 
These two partners (Dumb and Devious) in treework (carnage) deserve each other.
One is a bit intelligent (or at least smart enough to fathom his sidekick is a parasite)
The other is a bit cunning ($$$ opportunity presents itself, so he screws over his buddy)

Show your partner this thread, and invite him to post his side of the story....
 
SirSawsAlot said:
Recently i formed a business with my friend. He is the climber, i am the ground guy. I own all the trucks. My partner doesnt own a car.

Everything's been smooth up untill i cut my leg pretty deep with a saw and was out for two weeks. I was unable to drive or work. My partner took over the estimating as i let him borrow my truck. He also did a few small bush trims he could do himself. We previously contracted that during an injury we still each get our normal pay unless the injured person is out for more than 5 weeks.

During my time at home this happens..

On one 200 dollar job he accidentally lost 100 dollars on the way home.

We had a huge increase in quotes over the time i was injured, which explained for the many miles that was driven on my truck. But we only sold three jobs in the 2 weeks. He also forgot to write in the book all of these incoming calls and estimates he did because he was too busy.

What do u guys think and what would you do?
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Don't know what the purpose of this thread really is, but it's transparently BS
 
Theirs a high probability when your company gets to the jobs he bid you'll be in trouble. I bet he blew the bottom out of some prices that's why I'm saying watch out...
 

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