This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Today's caller has had a negative experience, or I should say they're having a negative experience, where they're not getting paid for work. They've completed. Now, sometimes we look at situations like these and it's a bit of a gray area. You know, they started doing some work, but it was on spec or they didn't have a contract. They were, you know, doing something for free in hopes of getting some paid work later.
None of that here. In this situation, they were clearly promised the money in exchange for the work. They did the work, which I think was a cleaning service, but then the company, their client, changed hands and no one is taking responsibility, basically. So you'll hear more about this from our caller. Obviously it's frustrating.
Let's see what we can do to help. And by the way, welcome. This is Sidus Old School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. I have the privilege of bringing you a daily episode all about creating extra money without quitting your job and not just extra money, but also confidence, security, the ability to do more of what's important to you.
So quick message from our sponsor. Let's see what we can do to help out our caller. [Music]
Hey there, Chris. This is Logan and I have a challenging situation. I've been trying to figure out.
I don't wanna share all the details since this is a potential legal matter. But the short version is that I have a small business that provides cleaning services to several offices and multi-use facilities. One of my contracts was for a building that recently changed hands. The new owner doesn't want my services anymore, which is disappointing, but I understand that these things happen. However, I still haven't been paid for the last four weeks of cleaning under the previous ownership.
Each side has given me the runaround. The old owner says the new owner assumed all debt with the purchase and the new owner says that's not the case. At this point, I'm ready to be more proactive and I'm thinking of trying small claims court. It's several thousand dollars, which is a lot to me, but not really enough to hire a lawyer and go through full litigation. Do you think I should take this approach?
And if so, do I file against the old owner or the new one or both? Thanks for any advice you can provide. [Music]
Logan, I'm so sorry you're going through this frustrating experience. It definitely sounds annoying, sub-optimal. I do want our listeners to know that most of the time it doesn't happen this way.
These are pretty rare situations. I don't want to say they never happen, but most of the time in your cleaning service or whatever else, you're going to have good customers and good clients and you're going to get paid and you're going to build the systems to support those outcomes. So if you're thinking about starting your side hustle or small business, please don't be deterred. But now of course, Logan's situation, here we are, it is one of those times that doesn't have a great outcome, at least initially. And it seems like he is perfectly in the right here.
It's just a question of who should pay. And I think small claims court is great for something like this. Depending on where you live, they may not have something like that, but it's essentially a way to have an expedited legal process without paying for attorneys typically. And so if your claim is pretty clear cut, which it sounds like it is here, I mean, there could be some more details not mentioned, but based on the information we have, I would say there's a good chance the company is just going to pay up to be done with it. Or they won't show up if you have a hearing and you'll get a judgment in your favor.
Now, of course I'm not a lawyer, I don't give legal advice, but in terms of which party to begin with, I think you should start with the party that hired you. Because you had an agreement with them, they were paying you, you were doing work for them, it's their obligation to honor it. And if that doesn't prove fruitful, then perhaps there's another approach, but that's what I would do. I think actually small claims court is a great approach here. Logan, we're cheering you on, we're wishing you well, I hope it works out, let us know.
And listeners, if you have a question or something you're trying to work out, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. Let me know what's going on with you. We'll feature them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects. And as they get through occasionally difficult situations like this one. All right, that's it for today.
New episode coming up tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
