I played golf yesterday with an old friend from my high school days. After I had my beating on the course we decided to go out for dinner. So it was back to my place for a quick shower and change.
And that's where Jack Sinclair, my great little 11 year old son, comes into the story. Click here to take a look at the little rascal.
You see, Jack loves to earn money. Any little job needs doing, Jack will do it. He is a hard working fellow.
I knew there was 70 cents in my golf bag. So I said to Jack, "Okay, if you get my golf bag out of the car, wipe the clubs and clean the rubbish out of the bag and the car, you can have whatever money you find in the bag."
70 cents for a couple of minutes work. Fair enough. He happily set about working.
Or so I thought!
I'd just finished getting changed when a very sheepish looking Jack Sinclair walked into the bedroom.
"Dad, I found $20.70 in the bag. Do you want it back?"
Oooops! I'd forgotten about a $20 note in the side compartment!
It's times like these when I give my kids what we call "Dad's business lessons."
We all sat down and had a chat. And here's the gist of the business lesson.
Jack and I entered into a contract. I asked him if he wanted to do some work with a probable reward for his efforts. He agreed.
That's a contract. And it's an almost perfect contract because both of us entered into that contract with goodwill and honesty. A verbal contract is as good as any written contract - just harder to prove if there is a dispute.
The fact that Jack made a lot more money than I had expected is irrelevant. That's his money. But because he's a lovely little fella, he offered me the opportunity to review our agreement and alter it to reflect the usual work/reward ratio.
And that's a great thing to do. Makes good business sense. Because now when I enter into a contract with Jack (when I say "contract" I mean me saying "If you clean the car I'll give you $1" - and he agrees.) I know that he's fair, honest, decent and wanting to make it a win-win situation.
He didn't have to offer me a chance to rectify my 'mistake', but the fact that he did means I'll do business with him again and again.
And that's a great example I want to emulate with my clients. Maybe we should start calling them "Jack's business lessons" rather than Dad's?!
Have a good day and a great New Year if I don't get a chance to write later.
Cheers.
Brendon
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