New Year's Resolution

Copyright © 2005 By Koty Lapid--  The story is about friendship but mostly is about how  to keep your business profitable and also be good to your friends. 

I have been over to my friend Kevin. We were sitting, sipping our coffee. Kevin asked me to come visit him. While talking to him on the phone I could sense on his voice that he wanted me to sooth his pain. I haven't known yet what that pain was... I also haven't known if I would console him... when I'll know the facts he will tell me.

We have been friends from the high school. On the first day we decided to sit next to each other... and nobody could separate us till the graduation.
We weren't an item. He was my best friend at that time. After graduation he studied all kind of things in different Universities. Eventually
he set up his own company. He was mostly dealing with project management. Sometimes it was his own project, property developments and so on. Sometimes
he was managing other people project. He was very smart, but remained honest. And his luck never left him. Almost never.

While sipping my coffee I listened to Kevin. I have never seen him so devastated as he was... when he told me what he wanted to tell me. Kevin used to work with a lot of sub-contractors. Those people who worked for him... liked him. He paid
on time... and he was always willing to help them out with different things. It turned out that one of his sub-contractor, David, killed himself at Christmas Eve. Kevin went to visit David's family. It turned out that David had serious money
problems... and couldn't stand those financial pressures anymore. David worked for Kevin during many years. David liked the fact that Kevin always could supply him with steady stream of contracts... and he paid on time. Kevin, because he was a smart business man... always pushed David for a lower budget. David always agreed to work for less and less money... till one day he couldn't take it anymore.

While visiting David family, Kevin offered an annual sum to David's wife, Rita. That money would cover David's family monthly expenses. Rita told Kevin:' I don't want your money. You killed my husband. Because you wanted higher and higher profit... you pressured David to take the contracts for less and less money. Please leave'.

When Kevin finished telling me the story... he wanted me to console him.. to tell him he didn't do anything wrong. I couldn't say him the words he wanted. I stayed quiet. Than he told me : 'I think the only thing I can do... is to promise to myself that I'll never try to have the most profit I can have... on the account of the people who work for me'... I still haven't say a word... but in my heart I wished he could keep his New Year's resolution.