Would You Keep The Money? In early 2009, we were bootstrapping and close to the edge. We had ~$60k in the business. Total Then one day, a customer (a Fortune 100 company) sent us a check, by mistake, for $356k. It was double paying the business done in 2008. Pure profit. A lifesaver. I called the customer to alert them we were sending the check back. They said not to. Too much of an accounting issue. So we suggested keeping on file as a pre-payment. Again, they said not to. It would trigger a major audit which would cost the company far more than the check itself. They said to keep the money. They liked us. They knew we were small. And they didn't want to go through the hassle of getting the check returned. It was a mistake, but one we could benefit from. They were insistent. Here are the three things I learned from the time we got a miracle check in the mail - and what we did with the money.
1. How you handle every situation at the beginning of your company/career will shape your decisions in the future. $350k was a ton of money for a company of six people, three of which were not taking any paycheck. The numbers get bigger, but the stakes, and pressures, not get any higher.
2. Nothing is ever black and white. That's too easy. Satan dances in the gray area. This was the first time, but definitely not the last we had a very murky situation.
3. There are not kudos for doing the right thing. This ain't the movies. Usually those who do the right thing are mocked, fired or left behind. The game is a lot harder when you play it with the 'handicap' of telling the truth and having integrity. And it's worth it. We returned the check. I've proposed this scenario to many entrepreneur meetings, fireside chats and even to an ethics class at Pepperdine over the years. Although it seems like many would return the check when first hearing the story, the majority usually vote to keep it. Remember, he was insistent and sending it back, his company dealt in billions so this was a rounding error, and doing so could cost us his business - he was our second largest customer at the time. There were three of us running the company at the time and the vote was 2 to 1. It came down to a simple thought: He was being entrusted with the public shareholder's money and we didn't feel comfortable taking it.
What would you do? The time we were broke and got a miracle $350k check in the mail....by mistake