If it sounds too good to be true…

A new business associate of ours was recently presented the opportunity to partner with one of the largest green-tech companies in Silicon Valley, or so he thought. The closing of this deal would mean an immediate doubling of his company staff in less than one month. However, on the day before the deal closes, the other party started to get pushy and their demands sounded odd. Wisely, he contacted his business lawyer who reviewed the paperwork and found some strange elements. Then he decided, at the eleventh hour to do a due diligence check of this new business partner. Upon closer review he discovered that this person was  scam artist, with a trail of collateral damage in his wake, and this guy was about to become his next victim.

It was a great fortune that he decided to go with his gut and look into it a bit more before the contract was signed. The same principle slow to hire, quick to fire applies to new business relationships – take your time, if the other party isn’t patent, then that may be a big red flag – perform your due diligence, always, and when things go unexpectedly, be sure to act quickly to “fire” the other person.