I’ve lost money to shady characters in my efforts to build an Internet-based business. It’s a part of the risk that I have to accept. In most cases, I do make an attempt to get my money back, but simply store away lots of details and move on. Perhaps some day the opportunity will arise to get that money back (and it does happen).
In other cases, the business deal simply doesn’t work out quite the way you hoped it would. For example, I’m getting absolutely no value out of a mentoring program I paid for (which is still active) because the mentor publicly insulted a friend over something that, in my opinion, should have been kept quiet. Yes, I could raise a stink about it, but why bother? From my perspective, it’s better to simply move forward and take care of Now. The world is big enough for both of us and I’ve become apathetic to his cause (hate requires negative energy and effort; apathy is much better because it frees you to do something else).
In another case, I invested a chunk of cash in another system. That one didn’t work out at all like I hoped it would. I understood the risks going in, completely trusted the person running it (and still do), and know that I’ll get at least some of my money back if some of the issues ever get worked out. Yet I still get emails and private messages at forums asking if I still “believe” this person or telling me that I’m a fool for trusting this “scam artist”.
No, the deal just went bad. That’s all. Furthermore, in keeping with my “move forward” philosophy, if I know that the deal simply went bad, I know that I wasn’t “scammed”. In the case with this person, were she to come forward with another business proposition similar to the one that didn’t work out, I’d take a serious look at it because I know and trust the person behind it.
(On a side note, I’m still holding on to the naive hope that I might see some money some day, even though it has been several months since I stopped investing in this deal. The nature of the deal was such that I should have been paid within 3-4 months at the most… Then again, if it happens, it happens; I’m not at all obsessed with it.)
So please; STOP calling every failed business deal a “scam”. It’s not. If you can’t handle some risk (and don’t have a plan to manage it), then go get a job (of course, that’s risky, too, since you aren’t in control of your paycheck).
And above all, don’t try to draw me in to a protracted argument about the merits of a person. While I might tell you my opinion (which I tend to not do in public nowadays for a very good reason), you have already convinced yourself about the “character” of this person, and nothing I say is going to change it. Your “scam artist” is my “friend” or “business partner”, and Who They Are is completely separate from What Happened. Enjoy your opinion while I move forward and take advantage of Now. And the sooner you learn to separate people from issues, the better it will be for you.
One final word: If you can’t afford to lose the cash, then don’t invest it in your business. Period. Calling somebody a scam artist when the real problem is your inability to manage risk is only going to lead to you running into even more so-called scam artists. Stop passing the buck and take responsibility for your own actions.
Thanks for listening,
Tom
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