A business owner discovers an employee stole $50,000 after a customer asks for a receipt. The theft nearly breaks the company financially, leaving leadership considering whether to tell the team and fight to save the business.
Approximately $50,000.
A former customer asked for a receipt and reported they paid the employee cash and never received a receipt; this prompted the owner to investigate.
He screwed us in every way. He could have. Go out, do the job, delete the job in the system, and take cash bank.
We found out that we had an employee embezzling in a significant matter.
He would turn in enough work and make enough complaints about the guys that are with him, make it look like he was just trying to train his crew up. And, yeah, we fooled. He's a very good manipulator.
In addition to other debts that's really going to be crippling us this winter. We're worn out, we're exhausted, and most days I am terrified to make decisions for fear of making the wrong one.
Just what he took. I'm estimating 50 grand.
How did you find out, though? How did it kind of come to light?
One of my old customers called me and asked for a receipt. They said, yeah, we paid the guy cash, and we never got a receipt. And I didn't think anything of it at the time. It was actually a couple weeks later, I was on the phone with a new business coach, and he was just like, something doesn't sound right. Nobody's screwing you, are they? And then my mind went back to the incident. Two, three weeks before. Been so crazy. I hadn't really looked into that night. We stayed up till 3 and just started digging and digging and digging and finding one.
How many times do I get to stand in front of them and tell them that I'm not good enough, that I haven't figured it out? You know.
Though I've been working my butt off all year and they've been working hard, that it's just falling apart in my hands, you know.
Look, how many times do I. I can stand in front of them and tell them that before, you know, they just lose faith entirely. You.
I think part of it, though, too, is, like, they'll also rally behind you. And, like, that's the only way I see the company. Mio turnaround is you need more people taking on some of the pressure.
It's like I've had to stop so many times this year and be like, we're out of money. I need you guys to go make sure we're collecting from every possible place we could.
Get the money in so we can function.
Okay, guys, got the problem figured out. This is a problem. This is what we're gonna do to fix. We're gonna push hard. This is the plan. I created the system that this could happen in, but.
We'Re just so short on cash. I don't feel like I have time.
To figure it out from your guys perspective. Like, what do you think would happen if Mike opened up more with the team about where the company's at? It sounds like everyone kind of like hush hush knows what's going on. But there hasn't been open dialogue about like, okay, we, we have X amount of debt. We are really in the hole in this. This is what we're doing to tighten up the ship. Like how do you think that would be received?
Pretty supportive of that, honestly, I think.
They would be worried that we'd be scared.
Would it be a matter of like job security? Is it a matter of okay, do I need looking for something else just in case?
I know we've had people before where they've been worried about not making enough. Maybe that's where their mind will go. I mean every person's different, so how are we going to know? But I think for the most part everyone will be really supportive and you know, trying to, you know, kick into gear and get some work done.
