Phil freaks out! December 17, 1985
Phil’s shrill voice hinted of impending disaster.
Two weeks before Christmas and Pepsi Cola sent notification
terminating his contract. Phil acted like a young child who’d not received the
toy he’d requested from Santa.
The contract had sentimental value to Phil since he had used
that end of the business as foundation for his small business empire.
Cold blooded, Phil aches for importance, making up for his
lack of smarts with extreme shrewdness and luck, always managing to locate
himself in the right place at the right time.
A few years ago, Phil’s boss in a soda distribution company
screwed up in delaying his bid; Phil, second in command at the time, slipped in
his own bid and stole the contract.
Later, when Yacenda, owner of the Willowbrook Dunkin, ran
afoul of federal monopoly laws, Phil brought the franchise at bargain basement
price.
Still later when Gene, the owner of a Dunkin out in far
Rockaway came looking for a second franchise, Phil sold him the Willowbrook
store at a hefty price, financing it himself so that if Gene could not make the
payments or pay Phill his cut of the sales, Phil would get the business back.
At this point, Phil made his own good fortune by spreading
rumors among the staff – through his cousin who Gene mistakenly kept on as
assistant manager, ultimately resulting in the store’s failure and the business
ownership reverting to Phil.
Perhaps some hope lies in the old saying that the enemies
you make on the way up are waiting for you on your way down again.
Few people actually make it to that elite position such as
the Rockefellers, JP Morgan or Donald Trump, where they rise so high, they
never come down.
Most rise and fall, expending all their energy in the climb
as to make their fall in a controllable crash.
These would-be capitalists use up their magic and have
nothing left to cushion them later.
Yacenda had a whole series of reversed. While they failed to
break him, these limited his ability to grow.
First, he sold the Dunkin a quick sale, then came revelations
of bad conduct involving the mall manager.
Yacenda even got beat up in Newark, forced to hire
bodyguards. Recently his manipulations with town officials came to light,
making him political enemies as well.
People like these seem to climb to a point of incompetence,
and then self-destruct. If they constructed their empires soundly enough, they
survive with some acceptable level of wealth; if not, they tumble back into
misfortune, one bad thing coming after another – each manipulation they attempt
to halt their slide making their crash all the worse.
For Phil, the Pepsi contract served as foundation for the
empire he envisioned. His Dunkin franchises won’t bear the financial weight of
what he hopes to accomplish. He’s made too many mistakes his cleverness can’t
cure, such as hiring incompetent people at key position, and he’s made enemies
who may be waiting for him when his financial fortunes fade, waiting to help
him reach the bottom faster.
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