I would be very cautious about buying a business where the original owner wants to essentially play owner and stay involved in the business. He is playing owner with your business.

You need to decide how much you think this business is worth and what terms you’d be willing to consider to buy the business, set your terms and offer them to the owner. I also would not do installments through the original owner. Go to a bank and get a business loan.

The person you are buying the business from is the seller of the business. You do not want them to hold all that leverage over you. Don’t let them be your business financer, they’ll use that leverage. Also, you need to be free to run the business in a way that is in line with your goals.

So, is purchasing a business from a previous boss, who also holds the business financing on the your loan and wants to be an active decision maker in the day to day running of the business a good idea? No! It is a terrible idea.

If you do decide to consider buying the business, you can’t afford to not have a lawyer. Get the best lawyer you can find and don’t worry about the legal costs. You can’t overspend for good legal representation. Good luck!

Throw them out. If they look off and you are trying to make a name for yourself you don’t want people associating them with your brand.

Throw them out. If they look off and you are trying to make a name for yourself you don’t want people associating them with your brand.

They are trying to cheat you out of $1,500. If you agreed to $6,000 a month and you worked for roughly half a month, then $3,000 is probably to right amount of money. Send your invoice, send documentation indicating you’ve received payment, keep your exit communication and wish them well. It sounds like you are in the right here and don’t have to worry about being sued. Don’t argue with them or try to convince them that you are right, just stick to facts.

They are just trying to bully you. I do freelance work and roughly a third of my clients try to cheat me. That is how business is done by a lot of people. If you do freelance again, have a contract, get money up front for your work, establish a written understanding with your client about what they have to pay and what they get so no one can come back later and change the agreement. Good luck

NTA

They were playing the sympathy card and trying to make you feel bad for doing business? Amateurs.

Business is a full contact activity and if they think they should be held to a different standard because they are small, then they shouldn’t be in business. Don’t feel bad, take their client (that’s called competiting not stealing, they don’t own the client) and encourage them to go take a few classes at their local community college in business management and SEO. It sounds like maybe they need to work on their skills. Good luck.

Not such thing as a failed entrepreneur unless you give up. Struggling, sure, but failed only happens when you quit or die. If you need some inspiration, go the read the arena quote by Teddy Roosevelt.

“…who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Being an entrepreneur is special, most people can’t do it and anyone that tries to humiliate you for your effort is a low cowardly little turd.