It’s almost Bill’s birthday! He’s hoping there won’t be any surprises. After putting in long hours at work all week, all he wants this year is a quiet family dinner and a relaxing evening at home.

Bill’s friends and relatives have a different idea. They are busy planning a surprise birthday party eagerly awaiting his reaction.  After the initial shock wore off and Bill got his second wind, he thought to himself this is pretty fun.

Bill found out the hard way, being surprised in business and legal matters is anything but fun.   He got the surprise of his life when he found out that his faith and trust in Tom, his business partner, had been misplaced.

Bill thought that he could trust Tom, since they had been friends and business partners for years.  They had worked together building a successful medical supplies company. The long hours, risks and rewards had been always been equally shared over the years.

Then the unthinkable happened.  Due to some unusual circumstances, Bill had to turn over sole control of their company to Tom. Bill had no reason to think that Tom would do anything other than continue to run the company with the best interests of each partner, their employees and clients in mind.

Imagine his shock and surprise when Bill found out that Tom had setup a replica company selling the same products under a new name. He even listed highly creditable, well-known, credentialed individuals as team members on his new web site.  Tom proceeded to steal clients, assets and the good will created by Bill.  The original company was forced to fold and Bill had the unthinkable task of explaining the unraveling to the investors.

Take Away

In an age of information overload, getting accurate, complete and timely facts can be a challenge, but a basic background or due diligence investigation would have saved Bill and his company.