Bow Truss v. The Profit: Better Than Reality TV

I’ve been following and writing about the Bow Truss v. Marcus Lemonis kerfuffle – now lawsuit – because messy litigation is my reality TV. And, this is messy. As a lawyer, my stock in trade is careful, calibrated elocutions of ambivalence. But, here, I’m not lawyering, I’m writing, so…

How I Know Your Business “Marriage” Ain’t Gonna Make It

In the midst of providing Business “Marriage” Counseling to two or more business partners, there is a moment when I have to predict a course. See, there are only a couple of paths we can take. People who come to me to work on their intra-company relationships have usually…

Business Partnership Lessons from the Bow Trust Deal Death

Last week, Crain’s reported that Brow Truss coffee houses had closed their doors. Left behind are dozens of employees with unpaid wages and one hysterical owner who is blaming the guy who backed away from buying him out. Marcus Lemonis, the star of MSNBC’s The Profit, had agreed to…

Your business needs both an artist and an enforcer – they probably can’t both be you.

Most people start businesses because they love doing something so much, they know they can do it better under their own banner. That’s an artist – not a smock and beret artist – but an artist who creates something new or better. Maybe that’s why you started your business….

5 Steps to Make Your (Business) Marriage Last

As a business lawyer, I sometimes get hired to perform a sort of marriage counseling for business partners. The goal is to preserve the business by coaxing the partners back together or gently breaking them apart.  I always know I can save the partnership when each partner asks the…