Sierra Crest Business Law Group - January 2022

Sierra Crest Business Law Group - January 2022

We guide small business owners over rocky legal terrain so they can protect and grow their companies.

775.448.6070 WWW.SIERRACRESTLAW.COM

January 2022

FACING DOWN A BUSINESS CHALLENGE? You Might Be More Prepared Than You Think

One of my favorite pieces of business advice comes from an unlikely place: the children’s book series “Little Bear” by Else Holmelund Minarik. That series was a childhood favorite of mine, and I particularly liked one captivating story of the bear cub’s adventures in the snow. In the book, Little Bear wants to go out and play in the drifts, so his mom gives him a cap to wear over his ears. He goes out the door, then comes right back in.

“I’m still cold!” he says.

So, his mom wraps him in a trenchcoat and hustles him back outside. A minute later, he reappears at the door.

“Mom, I’m still cold!” he says.

The mother bear tucks his feet into boots, and when he comes back shivering again, she gives him gloves, then bundles him up in a scarf. Still, he isn’t satisfied! Finally, the mother bear looks down at her cub and says, “You know what, you’re a bear!” She takes off his hat, trenchcoat, gloves, and boots, then says, “Now go out and play.” Amazingly, he does, and with his thick coat of fur he’s just fine! This story is a great reminder that more often than not, we’re born with everything we need to succeed — in life and in business. We may not have fur, but we have our hearts, brains, and guts. This innate purpose, genius, and faith is enough to solve almost any business problem. Recently, I helped one of my clients realize this when he came to me for help with a business dispute. He was the co-owner of a corporation and had gotten into a disagreement with the other shareholders. They’d come to him with a proposal: Leave the company or buy them out and take over the business himself. This proposal was a big opportunity, but the client was scared. He didn’t have the money to buy out the other partners, and he didn’t believe he had the skills to raise it. But I thought differently. After

meeting with him, I saw his good heart, generosity, and engaging, personable manner.

“Look,” I told him, “I think that finding this money is going to be easy for you. You have so much inside yourself that it won’t be a problem.” That was my way of telling the client, “You’re a bear!” and sending him out into the snow. And just like Little Bear’s mother, I was right! When he tapped into his inner strength, he easily raised the money he needed to start fresh. This client didn’t really have a business problem. He had an opportunity disguised as a problem! If you’re facing a similar dilemma, the same could be true for you. You might have everything you need inside yourself already and just need a little help to see it. I’m happy to be the one to point it out! Call me today or visit SierraCrestLaw.com/Contact to schedule a consultation.

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How Much Are Your Favorite Pants Worth? One Man Estimated His at $54 Million

Everyone knows that the perfect pair of pants can be hard to come by, but are they worth $54 million? Administrative Judge Roy L. Pearson had a favorite pair of pants, but in 2007, he claimed that Custom Cleaners lost them and returned a completely different pair instead. It all began when Pearson took his pants to the Washington, D.C., dry cleaners for alterations worth $10.50. The pants were sent in error to the incorrect dry cleaner, so Pearson’s pickup was delayed by several

though, was the company’s failure to live up to their “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service” signs in the window.

The media had a field day, joking about the case as a “pantsuit” and inspiring a “Law & Order” episode called “Bottomless.” Pearson seemed to relish the spectacle, calling his lawsuit “an awesome responsibility” in court and breaking down into tears on the stand. He also called a witness who compared the Chungs to Nazis. Even though the Chungs offered him a $12,000 settlement to make the case go away, Pearson persevered. He ultimately lost his case. At the end of the trial, the judge declared that no reasonable person would consider the signs at Custom Cleaners to be an unconditional promise — and also that Pearson had failed to prove the returned pants weren’t his. The Chungs ultimately recovered their court costs via a fundraiser, and Pearson lost his judicial appointment. Unsurprisingly, this prompted another lawsuit, which he also lost. In 2020, Pearson was suspended from practicing law for 90 days as a result of his actions in Pearson v. Chung . But for bringing new meaning to the phase “I’ll sue the pants off of you,” his place in legal history is secure.

days. Once the pants were returned, despite bearing all the correct tags and matching his receipt, Pearson declared that the pants were not his. When the dry cleaner refused his demand for $1,000 compensation, he decided it was time for legal action. Pearson originally sued the cleaner’s owners, Soo Chung, Jin Nam Chung, and Ki Y. Chung, for a whopping $67 million in damages but later reduced the claim to a far more reasonable $54 million. In his suit, Pearson requested $3 million for mental distress, $90,000 for a rental car to visit another dry cleaner, and $500,000 in attorney’s fees (Pearson represented himself). At the heart of his claim,

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a gift or a card to show you’re thinking about them. These gifts cost resources, but as Newswire reports, multiple studies show that customer gifts increase retention. Invest in retention tools. Staying in touch with your customers is the best way to keep them happy and remind them that you care. You can stay on top of this by doing the hard work of reaching out personally each month, but it’s easier and more efficient to invest in recurring communications like automated weekly emails and regularly printed newsletters. Make personalization possible. In order to retain customers, you must build quality relationships with them. This starts with knowing who they are, what they need, and how they interact with your company and your marketing. To figure out those key points, you should gather and interpret a lot of >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6

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