This could be a very long story. There are so many factors. For the sake of the reader I am going to try and write the cliff-note version. Was finally awarded full custody of my Son last year (really hurt my savings). I am an ex heroin addict 7 years clean (child was born) save a couple trips ups in the beginning. His mother and I tried to make it work. We didn’t know each other. It was a drunken oops night. When I came out of rehab after my son was born she had moved 1200 miles away. I didn’t see my son for a year. Everything I owned for in a trash bag. I was in my mid twenty’s then.
I rented a room from my father and took a minimum wage job. The least I had made since I was 16. So I saved every penny and then started looking for ways to make money on the side. The receptionist at works husband broke her iPhone screen, bought a new one and tried to repair it himself. He gave up and I asked if I could tinker with it. She brought it to me in pieces. Screws so small you need a magnifying glass. I researched and watched videos and amazingly enough out the damn thing back together and it worked. I took it back to her and she said no, keep it. He already got a new one. That phone was worth 1/2. A weeks pay. This was before there were cell repair shops on every block. So I searched craigslist all day and would buy broken iPhones for $40-60. $20 for a new screen and digitizer. Resale $200. If I had the box, Wall charger and cord I could get $225 and the person would buy as many as I had. I ended up spending my evenings buying iPhones, messaging my buyer and sitting in McDonald’s repairing 4-6 at a time. He would meet me and hand me $1000ish cash. Eventually I had quite a bit of money saved up.
So I began buying trailers, cars...i learned the value of a ton of items and anything that made me 25% profit and would sell fast I bought. Then I got into what I knew. Oil field. Business took off so fast I had to quit. My net profit was insane. But I was getting paid net 45-60. I and my business were too young for a loan. I started with $30,000 and in 1.5 years bank evaluated me at $1.2MM and I was turning work down (I was also debt free except my trucks). So I asked my dad (I know...never work with family. I just saw the money) and assumed he would trust that I knew what I was doing based off my numbers. I was operating in 3 states, My son and his mother moved back in and she hated how much I worked. another reason I thought family would be different. They could see my relationship on the rocks. 2 years 7 days a week I never took a day off. So my dad did, under the condition my brother come too. I fought this and fought this but whatever. I owned more shares, my dads infusion made him majority. We didn’t use lawyers. I didn’t want to pay capital gains taxes on as much as he gave me. Oil tanked,
I was diversified enough to survive until it came back recently. Also took another job to help pay company bills. Then got frustrated at my brother making the same as me and doing nothing except changing company policies, questioning how to run things. We were still in the green I got sick of being treated like I didn’t know what I was doing. So I told them I just wanted to be a silent partner and collect quarterly checks. My brother ran the company into the ground and this February my dad was going to have to file bankruptcy. So I quit my job under the condition we do things my. In January we were at $35,000/year gross.
Bleeding money. I came on as the only employee and started over. Slept in the truck 1-2 nights a week to save time. From January to July I raised yearly gross to $400k and rising. I was on target for $65. While working for $200/week to try and get our debt down. Hired 2 employees, office lady and rented us out. The deal was I was the salesman and manager. Nothing left to sell I was just an account executive. Any good salesman knows once you’ve peaked you don’t really work much. Just keep building that relationship over dinner occasionally, phone call and I’d make weekly rounds to bullshit with the big guys. Somehow my family decided I was on drugs again. I offered to pay for lab test if any sort that day. They didn’t care. So my vehicle was under the company. 7 months making $200 a week. And then the day I went to put a down payment on a truck my lawyer called. Sons mother requested fingernail drug test dating back 8 months. Funny coincidence huh? (Passed by the way and there is NO way to beat them). He need me to top off me retainer. That was all the Savings I had left. I live in a town of 1200 people. There is no work. DHS online won’t work. Office is 20 miles away. I have 0 friends from being a workaholic. I had a contract with a company pay $120k/yr -no cap, company vehicle etc. brother told everyone I was on drugs. Word gets around because I know so many people in the industry. I hadn’t signed it because I needed to talk to my lawyer about acceptable travel time and my son.
If this wasn’t family I would literally own the company and my brother would be paying restitution for slander and defamation. I’m not going to sue my family. Only on paper somewhere so I still have any ownership. I’ve a week or so until utilities start getting shut off.
I’ve been broke. I’ve been homeless. That doesn’t worry me. I could go hop on a job right now but it’s 100% travel and I can’t lose my son again.
Any suggestions would be awesome because I’ve never found myself in a corner I couldn’t get out of but I don’t see one this time and this time is more important to me than any other sticky/shitty situation I’ve gotten. Myself in.
TL;DR worked with family got fucked good chance I’m going to lose custody of my son.
Submitted August 28, 2018 at 03:59AM by onebrokefather https://ift.tt/2LwLw6E
