Let’s Get Going!
By: Oliver Thomas Spedding
Tags: Abuse, Failure, Greed, Fiction, Inheritance

In an attempt to prove his worth, a young man loses his valuable inheritance.

By

Oliver T. Spedding

“Mister Sutton.” Doctor Sadler said quietly. “I’m afraid I have terrible news. Your father has passed away during surgery. The surgeon did all that he could but your father’s injuries were just too severe. I’m sorry. Your mother is still in surgery. If there is anything that I or the hospital can do to ease your distress and pain we would be pleased to do so.”

“Thank you doctor.” I said. “I’ll be okay though.”

I struggled to come to terms with the fact that my father was dead.

He had always been so strong, so indestructible.

And now he was gone.

Although he had constantly belittled me, criticized me and shown no love for me I still felt a deep sense of loss.

I couldn’t imagine a future without his presence.

Strangely, though, I felt no sadness.

Over the years my father had destroyed any positive feelings that I may have had towards him and I had replaced them with feelings of resentment, anger, inadequacy, self-doubt and a certain amount of hatred.

My thoughts turned to my mother who was still alive and in the operating theatre.

If she survived, would she be able to cope?

Would she recover from her ordeal and be able to live a normal life?

She had been so dependent on my father and had loved him deeply, despite the shortcomings in his relationship with her and with me.

An hour later Doctor Sadler returned to tell us that my mother was out of theatre and back in the I.C.U. where she was being kept in an induced coma.

The surgeon’s prognosis wasn’t good and all he could do now was wait.

Chris suggested that my wife Janet and I book into a hotel in the city and that he return to oversee the running of the business.

I agreed.

CROWN LEAD WORKS

My mother remained in a coma for another three weeks and during this time Janet and I returned home for two days to help with the arrangements for my father’s funeral and to attend the service and the burial.

We then returned to the hospital and continued our vigil at my mother’s bedside.

The medical staff did everything humanly possible to help my mother but to no avail.

She passed away exactly three weeks after the car accident.

I arranged for her body to be flown back to our town and she was buried next to my father’s grave.

I took a week’s compassionate leave and together with Janet I spent the time at an isolated seaside resort to grieve and come to terms with what had happened.

Chris Mills took over the running of my father’s business for which I was most grateful.

My father began his business career working in a large bank and it was here that he met Rowland Burle, a German immigrant who had worked in Germany as a lead burner, building and lining tanks with lead for the chemical industry in the mid twenties, just when Hitler was beginning to make his presence felt.

Foreseeing the catastrophe that was about to unfold, Burle left Germany.

On arriving in our country Burle had set up his own lead burning business with some of the largest chemical companies in the country as his clients.

He hired and trained his own artisans and then began to branch out into lead products such as radiation shielding, lead sleeves for high voltage cables, roof washers, fishing sinkers, roof cladding and flashing and soundproofing materials.

While working at the bank and studying accountancy, my father heard of an opportunity in the copper extraction industry for lead anodes that were utilized in the electrolytic process to extract copper.

He approached Burle with a proposition to arrange for Burle’s company to be awarded the contract to supply the anodes. In return my father wanted a half-share in the business.

Burle saw the potential in this proposal and half the shares in the company were transferred into my father’s name.

My father left the bank and began working in the lead industry.

The new partnership was named Crown Lead Works and over the next ten years the business flourished.

In 1939 Burle, who was single and had no children, died of a heart attack and in his will he left his share of the business to my father.

The business continued to grow under my father’s stewardship and by the early nineteen sixties it had become one of the most prosperous manufacturing businesses in the area.

Chris Mills had joined Crown Lead Works as financial manager and during the three years that he had worked at the company he earned the reputation for being a shrewd manipulator.

He had a degree in accounting and had been involved in several businesses before joining Crown.

All these businesses had failed, mainly because they were operated on questionable business practices but Chris was quick to point out that he had never been a major shareholder in any of them and therefore could not be held responsible for the way that they were run.

THE WILL

When I returned to work, Chris informed me that the law firm that handled my parent’s affairs was the executor of the two deceased estates and that they had requested a meeting with me at my convenience.

I made an appointment to see them the following day.

Mister Fotheringham, the senior partner at Fotheringham, Griffin and Keller had handled my father’s legal and business affairs from the inception of Crown Lead Works.

He met me in the reception area of the firm’s building and escorted me to his office.

“Your father was meticulous about his will and his estate, Frank.” the lawyer told me. “All aspects of the will are clearly articulated and I don’t expect any disputes. The main components of your father’s will are the beneficiaries and his intensions with regard to Crown Lead Works after his demise. There are ten charities amongst the beneficiaries as well as your mother, you and your father’s spinster sister Miss Mary Sutton.”

Mister Fotheringham showed me the list of charities and the amounts bequeathed to each one.

My aunt Mary was to receive two hundred thousand dollars.

“When your father and I drew up this will he was of the opinion that you were still too young and inexperienced to inherit his holding in Crown Lead Works and he therefore decided that his share of the company’s stock should go to your mother.” Fotheringham said. “However he included you as a beneficiary with a stipend of five hundred thousand dollars to be paid to you in increments of a hundred thousand dollars over a period of five years.

“Your father also left instructions that when your mother, together with me and my colleagues here at the firm, felt that you had the proficiency to take control of the company you would, over a period of ten years, be allocated sufficient shares in the company to make you the majority shareholder.”

I nodded, trying to hide my shock and disappointment.

I had always assumed that, should my father pass away, I would inherit his holding in Crown Lead Works.

Although my mother was a very capable and competent person I had never imagined her running a huge business like Crown.

“As far as your father’s will is concerned I think I’ve explained the details that concern you directly.” Fotheringham said. “There are a great many other legal and financial requirements still to be dealt with but they need not concern you. We will handle those matters, keep you informed of our progress and when the estate has been finally wound up, provide you with a full report.”

I nodded, still too disappointed to say anything.

“Now, we come to your mother’s will.” the lawyer said as he put aside my father’s documents and showing me my mother’s will. “Your mother was, like you, an only child and apart from a sum of five hundred thousand dollars to your wife Janet and fifty thousand dollars each to two small charities, you are the sole beneficiary of her estate. This of course means that because your father bequeathed his entire holding in Crown Lead Works to your mother, that holding now reverts to you.

“You may wonder why your father didn’t object to your mother making you the sole beneficiary of her estate when it could mean that you might still inherit his stock, but the fact is that your father and mother were two separate clients and were entitled to confidentiality. I couldn’t tell your father what was in your mother’s will just as I couldn’t tell your mother what was in your father’s will.”

I nodded again, careful not to show my relief and excitement.

“The two wills will now lie for inspection for two weeks so that anyone who has a claim or objection can file an application.” Mister Fotheringham said. “After that we will finalize the accounts, pay the donations to all the beneficiaries and manage the transfer of your father’s stock in Crown Lead Works to you. It’s a very complicated and tedious process and could easily take up to a year to finalize, but Crown Lead Works is a highly solvent enterprise so I foresee a smooth transition.”

I left Mister Fotheringham’s office with feelings of awe and trepidation.

THE PLAN

I appointed Chris Mills as the Managing Director of Crown Lead Works and installed myself as Executive Chairman, although I spent a great deal of my time on other matters and left the day-to-day running of the business to Chris.

This allowed me to avoid most of the decision-making and begin making plans to expand the business.

My father had established the business and grown it up to this point and I now felt that I needed grow the business nationally and eventually internationally.

This would prove that I could handle responsibility.

I spoke to Chris about my plans.

“I believe that this is a good time to expand the business.” I said. “The economy of the country’s booming and there are a number of lucrative opportunities out there.”

“Yes Frank, the economy is booming.” Chris agreed. “But we must bear in mind that it’s a commodity-based boom. Although commodity prices are the highest they’ve ever been, they can’t stay at these levels forever. Sooner or later they’re going to come down and we don’t want to be in a weak position when that happens.”

“I don’t think that commodity prices will come down within the next ten years.” I said. “The world economy depends on commodities and it’s so big that even if it slows it will take years to affect us. Now is the time to expand. We must strike while the iron’s hot.”

Chris seemed dubious.

“What did you have in mind as far as the expansion goes?” he asked.

“I believe that we should open two new factories at each of the country’s two major port cities. The demand for our products is growing. We need to be where the action is. We’re asking for trouble by relying on transport contractors to move our products to these two centers. I’m also worried that someone else will get in before us. We don’t want to enter a market where there’s already competition.”

“I agree with you that the demand for our products is growing at a good rate but if you look at our sales figures for the two cities you’ve chosen, they make up less than twenty percent of our total sales.” Chris said. “Bear in mind too that the major part of our business is now the anode division and all the copper extraction plants are within a hundred miles from here.”

“That’s true.” I said. “But the building industry is booming and more and more visitors from overseas are buying property and building lavish, expensive houses. The demand for lead washers, lead cladding and lead waterproofing has never been as high as it is now.”

“One needs to be wary of the building industry.” Chris said. “It’s the one industry that is most affected by change and it can change very quickly. Anyway, I’ll get a team together and we’ll do a feasibility study on both cities. If it’s positive we can take the matter further.”

I was now making decisions, but I wondered if they were based on relevant facts or were they the result of my determination to prove my own worth?

HALCYON DAYS

Janet and I moved into my parent’s house and began entertaining on a grand scale. She resigned from her job and spent a great deal of time socializing.

Our entertaining grew to such an extent that there were many times when the house was too small to accommodate all our guests and we began to look around for something more suitable.

We discovered an insolvent game farm about thirty outside the town that had the potential to be converted into our dream home.

I sold my parent’s house and used the proceeds as well as a large loan from the bank that I secured by pledging some of the shares in the business to buy the property.

I had the old farmhouse demolished and hired one of the country’s top architects to design our dream house.

As Janet and I both enjoyed entertaining the house had ten bedrooms with bathrooms en suite so that our guests could stay on the property over weekends and even longer if necessary.

The house also had three large reception rooms, a sauna for thirty people, a snooker room, a vast kitchen and a private cinema.

Five garages housed our cars; two Porches, a Bentley, a vintage Rolls Royce and a Land Rover.

A fifty-meter swimming pool with change rooms and enclosed for privacy, took up half an acre adjoining the house.

There were also two all-weather tennis courts.

I had always been fond of horses so we built a complex with ten stables and a cottage for a groom and his family.

I imported ten thoroughbreds from Saudi Arabia.

As for the wild game I purchased a small herd of Wildebeest, another of Springbok, some Eland, Kudu and two Rhinos.

My parent’s furniture was rather old fashioned so I kept only those pieces that had some sentimental value and bought new and more modern furniture for the new house.

I had always wanted to use my artistic skills to create wooden furniture so I had a basement built and fitted it out with a range of expensive woodworking machinery.

All this was again financed by the bank using shares from the business as collateral.

The house-warming party was the event of the year for the area and was held over a long weekend; Friday through Monday.

Our guests came from all over the country and many of them had to be put up in the local hotel as our house couldn’t accommodate all of them.

It soon became an honor and a symbol of prestige to be on our social guest list.

THE DECISION

Chris Mills and I sat in my office and studied the feasibility reports for my proposed factories in the two port cities.

The team that had compiled the reports had spent a month in each city talking to Municipal officials, property consultants, marketing companies, economists and town planners.

They had also had discussions with all our customers in the two cities.

The results showed that both cities had the potential to carry the new businesses as long as the economy of the country remained stable for long enough to allow the factories to establish themselves.

This, the team had estimated, would be at least five years.

Should the economy weaken during this time it would put a severe strain on the new factories as well as the main factory.

“The economists that the team spoke to had the usual replies; if this happens then that will happen, if that happens then this will happen…and so on.” Chris said. “The trouble with economic predictions is that they are dependent on human behavior and you know how unpredictable that can be. My gut feeling is that we shouldn’t base our decision on the short-term economic situation but should rather wait until we have a more comprehensive long-term picture of the growth of the whole economy.”

I shook my head.

“You’ve always told me not to procrastinate.” I said, “Now you’re doing just that.”

“No, Frank.” Chris said. “It’s not a matter of procrastination. If I had to make a decision now, I would say no, don’t build the factories now. The company’s doing very well at the moment and is easily coping with the demand for our products, despite the boom. The fact that we have to use outside contractors to distribute our products isn’t a big problem. The transport industry is probably the most stable industry in the country so relying on them isn’t a big risk and it also gives us flexibility. We don’t have any contracts that are based on quantities.”

“I think that we’re going to miss out on a great opportunity if we don’t act now.” I said. “I really believe that we should move on to the next phase. The feasibility study puts the cost of the factories at forty five million dollars each and the Industrial Development Corporation is prepared to give us a loan for that amount. They wouldn’t do that if unless they believed in the project.”

“The loan from the I.D.C. has to be backed by collateral from us and to do that we’ll be putting the whole of Crown Lead Works at risk.” Chris said. “The I.D.C. has very little to lose. If they end up owning Crown, they’ll simply sell it and the other two factories to the highest bidder.”

“That won’t happen.” I said. “So let’s start putting together the finance for the whole project. Get the accounts department and the bank to evaluate the company and then start negotiating with the I.D.C. Also get Fotheringham, Griffin and Keller involved. The contractual side is very important.”

Chris left my office but I could see that he wasn’t happy with my decision.

I shrugged my shoulders.

To get anywhere in life you had to think big and this was what I was doing.

THE EXPANSION

“Frank, I’ve decided to leave Crown Lead Works.” Chris said as he sat down in one of the visitor’s chairs in my office. “I’m afraid that I cannot agree with your plans to expand the company and as a result I will be unable to fulfill my duties as Managing Director. Here’s my letter of resignation. I’m giving you three months notice as stipulated in my employment contract with the company.”

I had been expecting Chris to resign for several weeks.

The fact that he didn’t agree with my expansion plans for Crown Lead Works made his position as managing director untenable and, as I was determined to continue with my plans, he really had no alternative but to resign.

“I’m sorry that you’ll be leaving us and I thank you most sincerely for all that you’ve done for the company in the past.” I said. “I must be honest with you, I’ve been expecting you to resign and I respect and understand your decision. I accept your resignation with regret and I wish you everything of the best for the future. What about your holding in the company? I presume that you want to sell it.”

“Yes.” Chris said. “As I can’t agree with your plans I would be a hypocrite if I then held onto my shares in the business. However, if you don’t want to buy me out, I have several other parties that are interested in taking over my stock.”

“That won’t be necessary.” I said. “As soon as we get the bank’s valuation of the company we’ll negotiate a mutually beneficial settlement.”

Chris left my office.

Although I was sorry to see Chris leave the company I was determined not to miss the opportunity to expand the business and prove my worth.

It couldn’t be ignored and the sooner I started, the better.

A month later I received the bank’s valuation.

It took into account the value of the property, the buildings, the machines, the stock, the cash holdings, the debtors and creditors, my loan account, the future business potential and the intellectual property and valued the company at ninety million dollars.

I gave Chris a copy of the document and suggested that we meet in my office in two week’s time.

The bank officials put the value of Chris’ holding in Crown Lead Works at seven million six hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

As Chris had told me that there were other interested buyers, the bank suggested that I put a premium on this amount and that I offer him eight million five hundred thousand, a premium of just over ten percent.

I agreed.

I met with Chris in my office two days later but when he informed me that he had five other parties interested in buying his shares, I panicked and instead of offering seven million six hundred and fifty dollars plus a premium of ten percent I offered him a premium of just under twenty percent and rounded it off to nine million dollars.

I didn’t want any other partners or shareholders.

I wanted the whole company for myself.

The truth is that I didn’t have the confidence to negotiate with Chris.

Chris never hesitated. He accepted my offer immediately.

The bank drew up the necessary documents for the transfer of Chris’ stock to me and the payment of nine million dollars to him but I could see the disdain that they felt towards me for offering such a large premium.

I later heard that Chris didn’t have any other buyers wanting to buy his share of the company.

What was important to me though, was that I was now the sole shareholder in the company.

I could carry on with my plans without being answerable to anyone but myself.

And when my plans came to fruition I didn’t have to share the rewards with anyone either.

As the project was far too big and complex for me to handle and I also didn’t have the confidence to get deeply involved in it, I advertised for a senior construction engineer whose task it would be to oversee the whole project.

I received a number of applications and eventually whittled the list down to one man; Doug Proctor.

Doug had an extremely impressive C.V. and had overseen some of the largest industrial projects in the country and several overseas.

His salary was commensurate with his experience and turned out to be a major expense as he also required some very expensive perks and a bonus if he completed the project within the time limit set by the I.D.C.

Although the I.D.C. encouraged me to establish a financial budget I found this impossible to do as prices were escalating at such a rate that it just wasn’t possible.

Doug Proctor assured me though, that he would keep costs to a minimum.

I bought two industrial stands, one in each of the two port cities.

The cost of the two stands was considerably higher than what they had been when the feasibility study was done and so were the quotes for the construction of the two factory buildings.

I was convinced though, that the economic boom would continue for many years and that I had still made some very shrewd purchases that would increase in value in a very short period of time.

With the specs that Doug Proctor gave me I imported the necessary furnaces, rollers and extruding machines and had a large number of new moulds made for the copper anodes.

Once the machinery had been installed my supervisors began hiring staff and training them.

While the new factories were being built Janet and I traveled overseas frequently, visiting exotic countries and going on several world cruises.

We also continued to entertain lavishly.

True to his word, Doug Proctor completed the building and commissioning of the two factories within the one-year time limit but the cost of the whole project had escalated to such an extent that I had to increase the loan from the I.D.C. by another twenty five million dollars.

It was only because Crown Lead Works was benefiting considerably from the ongoing boom that the I.D.C. agreed to this additional financing.

The two factories started production and, although there were the expected teething problems, they were both producing at the required rate within the time frame set for them.

What I was unaware of though, was that the company was now mortgaged to the maximum and I had even had to put up the game farm as collateral.

The installments on the loan from the I.D.C. also put a great deal of strain on the company’s finances.

However, the boom continued unabated and I felt confident that I had done the right thing in expanding the business as I had.

THE CRASH

Janet and I arrived back in the country after our world cruise on the QE II about eighteen months after the two new factories had begun production.

Two days after I returned to work the world that I’d created began to melt like a pat of butter in a hot frying pan.

The government introduced a number of extremely unpopular and punitive laws in an attempt to consolidate its power and destroy all the opposition parties that had risen against it as a result of its inability to curb corruption and nepotism.

A state of emergency was declared and the economy of the country began to collapse.

Because of intimidation by people opposed to the government, the workers at Crown Lead Works’ three factories stayed away from work and production came to a halt.

Drivers in the transport industry also failed to arrive for work and goods all over the country couldn’t be delivered.

Smaller business enterprises began to close down and the building industry collapsed.

By the end of the year the economy was in tatters.

Many foreign countries began implementing sanctions.

The staff at Crown Lead Works who did remain at work tried their utmost to keep the business going.

I simply withdrew.

I was incapable of handling the situation.

I had failed, just as my father had predicted I would.

I had ignored the warnings of so many people that I was moving too fast and that economic booms do come to an end, often in the most unpredictable ways.

The fact that Chris Mills had left the company should have been a powerful warning

The fact that the bank had demanded one hundred percent collateral should have been another warning to heed.

Eighteen months after the people’s uprising the I.D.C. and the bank called in their loans on the grounds of my inability to service the debt.

Although all the loans had sufficient collateral backing them, business had fallen to such an extent that I was unable to pay the monthly installments.

The value of the Crown Lead Works Group had halved.

My accountants tried to reschedule the payments but couldn’t come to a suitable arrangement with any of my creditors.

In due course Crown Lead Works and I were declared insolvent and all the company’s assets as well as mine were liquidated.

The amount recovered from the liquidation didn’t meet the loan amounts which meant that I lost everything that I had owned.

I was destitute.

A NEW BEGINNING

When I finally looked back at what I had done with the business since the death of my parents I realized that my actions had been driven by my determination to prove that I wasn’t as incompetent as my father had continually told me I was.

I had rejected the advice of those far more experienced in business than I was, I had scorned common business sense and I had focused solely on my unrealistic dreams of success and wealth.

It was no good looking back at what had happened though.

The past couldn’t be changed.

What I had to do was learn from what had happened and use that experience to move on.

I was young and enthusiastic and the important lesson that I had learned was that the way to sustained wealth was to work with people, using their knowledge and experience to create what I wanted.

Janet and I rented a small apartment and once we were settled we sat down one evening and discussed our future.

“Getting a job is going to be very difficult.” I said. “I don’t have any qualifications and the economy’s in a recession. The only opportunity I see is starting my own small business. The problem is that I don’t have any capital.”

“What kind of business are you thinking of starting?” Janet asked.

“As Crown Lead Works was broken up and its assets sold individually I can acquire the moulds for the lead anodes that are utilized in the electrolytic process to extract copper. At present the copper extractors have to import their lead anodes as exorbitant prices.” I said. “I can also get a small smelter. As most of the Crown lead Works staff are now unemployed, acquiring experienced staff to do the work won’t be difficult. Suitable premises are also easy to find. If I start small I’m sure that I can create a viable and profitable business. The only problem is capital. Nobody’s going to back me after what happened to Crown Lead Works.”

“Do you honestly believe that you can establish this business?” Janet asked.

“Yes.” I said. “I’ve learned an important lesson. I don’t have to prove myself to anyone except myself and as a result I will work with people, listening to their advice and being part of a team.”

“How much capital do you need?”

“I’ve done a very thorough costing.” I said. “To set up the operation and run it until it becomes profitable I’ll need two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“Your mother left me five hundred thousand dollars in her will.” Janet said. “I’ll provide the capital.”

I looked down at the floor in front of me.

Was I capable enough to accept Janet’s offer?

Could I really establish the business?

And then I realized that my thinking was wrong.

It wasn’t a matter of me establishing the enterprise; it was a matter of us establishing the business.

I looked up at Janet.

“I’ll accept your offer on one condition.” I said. “For your investment you acquire fifty percent of the business. Together we can make it work.”

“Okay.” Janet said. “Let’s get going!”

Photographs

Photo 1 — Photo by Robin Sommer on Unsplash

Photo 2 — Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

Photo 3 — Photo by Andisheh A on Unsplash

Photo 4 — Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash

Photo 5 — Photo by Digital Marketing Agency NTWR on unsplash

Photo 6 — Photo by Roland Samuel on Unsplash

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Photo 9 — Photo by Alex Iby on Unsplash