Book Excerpt

In 2019 my company was contacted by Maryland’s Attorney General’s Office stating that we received funds from a client we must return because we violated their Business Opportunity Act. The client attended our 2018 conference and paid $10,000 of her $25,000 package. We commenced her work and completed more than 50% ($5,250 utilized) of the services of the $10,000 she paid for. She insisted on getting a full refund despite receiving her site plans and business plan. We told her we would return her funds minus some of the services completed totaling $6,750 to be returned. She got her state’s attorney general involved. Seemed like an excessive move for a simple business dispute. Did she know someone in that office?

The Business Opportunity Act, sometimes called the Small Business Opportunity Act, is an Act that exists in 23 states in various forms. It covers companies like, franchises, network marketing companies, etc. It is not widely known, not federal and no lawyer or accountant I’ve been advised by ever heard of it.

Our lawyer at the time advised us to simply return the funds. He stated we were sometimes doubling what she paid in a day and fighting her was a distraction to my business. So, not only did we return her funds, (details I will address later), but the Attorney General insisted we sign a consent order. In summary, the order stated we agreed that we violated the Act and we will not do business in Maryland anymore without registering our business. We registered; in Maryland, Virginia and D.C. just to cover our bases.

Fast forward several years, I fell critically ill. I wound up being airlifted to a Miami hospital, spent a week in the I.C.U. and 7 months on bedrest. I had no choice but to rely on the business system I put in place and the people I hired to oversee it. I returned to the office and it felt strange. I felt like a stranger. Something was off. The culture. The finances. The efficiency. It was off. I started to see cracks in the system and decided to investigate. Clients were acting less enthusiastic about us, and at times defiant. They were bucking the process. (Something that made sense later.)

I was uncovering shortages. $300,000 in services rendered to clients unpaid. $67,000 in broker fees unpaid. $1.2M in loans disbursed to clients not collected. $110,000 in funds used to help 16 clients finish their stores because they ran out of money, went unpaid. $7M in balances owed by clients for consulting services. We’ve had clients stiff us before. We let some go. Others argued why they shouldn’t have to pay. But this time it was different. It felt more like a rumbling before an eruption. I knew my company. I built it with my hands and brains. What was this stemming from? Who or what was the source? Before I could properly wrap my head around what I was uncovering, the media showed up. A charming but fierce reporter named Rebecca Lindstrom from 11 Alive news in Atlanta. You see, unbeknownst to me, some clients were already setting up to go public while I was on bedrest. One Maryland client discovered the consent order from 2019 and felt that it was an opportunity for her to get a full refund too, despite being 2 orders away from completion. She rallied other people from different states. 12 clients made media appearances, 11 completely lied and defamed. But let me not get ahead of myself. These rogue clients going public were just the tip of a bigger issue. I began holding managers accountable for the issues I was finding. One by one, they started abandoning their jobs. I was losing the team to help me fix and fight. I was the only executive on the team, while everyone else were senior managers or managers. Forensic accounting rested on my shoulders.

When the media showed up, in typical fashion, they gave me 2 days to respond (one gave me 12 hours). Not enough time. I wasn’t finished getting to the bottom of everything and I was unwilling to take this issue public regardless of if I was complete. Rebecca wouldn’t reveal the clients she was inquiring about. So, I minced words in the one and only interview I did. I shared a few items with her via email to help her with clarity but she didn’t include any of it. At that point, I realized some media outlets can’t be trusted. Her story was more salacious than factual. That’s what some media sell; sensationalism.

I always contracted clients to never go to 3^rd parties for any business complaint you may encounter. (I even advised against making negative reviews in general against black-owned business anywhere, even to the BBB. It only hurts your business too, as the public only see black businesses as one group. We don’t have the luxury of separate reputations.) Always go to court. That’s where facts are revealed and disputes are best resolved. Instead, they chose to take a route that made it worse for us all. Going public triggered 6 different attorney general inquiries into my company. It was heavy. Followers turned away from me. Who I thought were friends doubted me. Spectators sided with the stories. Logic didn’t set in to anyone, “Why would he risk a multi-million-dollar company for a handful of clients?” The very community I slaved for over 20 years pouring into, shared, gossiped and laughed live and online. While the AGs scoured my finances, client communications (CRM and email), and contracts, we were instructed to not communicate with our clients. One-by-one they closed their inquiries. What I learned is, there are 3 court systems. Up until now, I thought there were only two: criminal and civil. However, there is administrative. Administrative courts handle licenses, permits and fines. I, myself, was questioning if my company did something wrong beyond administrative. So, I stressed trying to figure out the extent of the discrepancies. I didn’t find any. At the core, the issues all AGs had were administrative issues. Three found no issue. Three had an issue with the special registration.

A few months later, my father’s cancer got widespread. I lost him abruptly. We texted that same day. I began grieving. He was a force in my life. He always cheerlead no matter what. For the first time in my life, I had little fight. I became an inactivist. Two days after he died, I had a virtual hearing with the Maryland AG's office and State Commissioner. The commissioner was nasty. I was on edge and frustrated. My mind was a ticking bomb. My lawyer had to quell the temperature. I remember little from that hearing except that. A few months after that, the Georgia AG made a settlement offer. Pay $2.2M and continue business, or don’t pay it but cease operating. The fine would include funds returned to stores that we have already opened. I signed it without caring. I was grieving. I just wanted to move on. I needed a break. The option still remain. Georgia made the 5^th AG to close their inquiry. 11 Alive returned to spin the story again. Nonetheless, I now only had Maryland to deal with. The start of it all. Ground zero.

I attended a preliminary hearing in Maryland. At that time, I learned more about the entirety than ever before. By the time they showed back up with a settlement offer, my grief was subsiding and my mind was clearing. I wasn’t willing to keep letting my name get soured. It was time to get active.

My new lawyers uncovered many holes in Maryland’s allegations. They proposed that we return 100% of funds to clients whose projects were completed years prior, and clients in the process. Totally unreasonable.  However, from onset, from what we can see, we weren't ever in violation of the Small Business Opportunity Act. It didn’t apply to us. We don’t fall under it's design. Perhaps, the previous AG administration wanted to please the 2019 client. Maybe someone in that office knew her personally. Then from there, all they saw was a consent order violation. My lawyers showed me groundbreaking info. It seems I frivolously went through a massive ordeal. The Art of War, catching your opponent (me) unprepared or unwilling to fight. They will concede. And, conceding is something not in any true entrepreneur’s DNA.

So, there I was. Sitting in an administrative hearing with the Maryland Assistant Attorney General on one side. Me on the other. New legal team. Fresh energy. Awakened senses. A Law school acceptance letter… Thinking. This won't ever happen to me again or to anyone under my tutelage. I need to become INFallible.

Now, let me take you back to the beginning.

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