On Throwing Out Old Business Files...

When and if you move, you end up going through old files and wondering why you’ve kept these things in the first place.

HJMT is moving our corporate offices to Melville. The move is in less than two weeks and we started to go through the entire office getting rid of stuff that we saved for so many years but had no need for.

I still had a ton of files in my home, since that’s where HJMT started. I was just sitting downstairs going through four boxes of old bills, files and bank statements. Most were from 1999 but there were a few from 2002. I came across a few things that made me think about my business in the “early” years.

For starters, I came across files from my first clients. There was one file from a financial planner who has since passed away. He died about a year or two after I worked with him. He had a heart attack in front of his children. It was a tragic situation. I started to think about how he would come over to my home office and the two of us would strategize ways to get him exposure.

The next piece of paper I came across was a letter from a client ending our relationship. I read the letter and couldn’t remember who the client was. I found her press kit. Apparently, she was a cabaret singer and I was hired to help her get publicity and book her into clubs. I looked through her file some more and saw all the publicity that I got for her. She was disappointed that I didn’t give her an update every day. Maybe I didn’t have anything to tell her? But you know what, I learned from that. I realized that our clients need updates, not every day, but once a week at a minimum. And you know what? I think they appreciate that.

I found a few lawsuits from “dead beat” clients refusing to pay. Fleet Bank was one of them. They owed me more than $4500 in 2002. Interestingly, I won the judgement but was unable to collect payment. Now Fleet is Bank of America and I will never see the money owed to me. But you know what? I will never bank there.

I also came across old files of personnel who worked for me. I hadn’t thought about these people in almost 10 years and here, looking through these old files, I started to think back when HJMT was in my home. Boy, we’ve come a long way from there!

Interestingly, I’ve had clients come and clients go. Many of the ones that left us, came back a year or two or maybe even five years later and rehired us.

The funniest piece of paper I came across was an old PR agreement between HJMT and a social worker. The social worker hired me for a small project. My fee at the time was $50 an hour and the agreement stated that the project would cost between $200 – $300. The social worker wrote on the agreement, “not to exceed $300” and included three exclamation points. I laughed. (I guess she thought I wouldn’t see that.)

Although times have changed dramatically, things still remain the same.