Like any entrepreneur, I respond quickly to prospective client inquiries. Time is money. Leads are precious.
This inquiry though was odd as it asked about shipping equipment to a Phoenix, Arizona-gym. Shipping? Nah, I am a 401k advisor celebrating 20 years of running my 401k practice. I replied, letting the sender (Douglas Caldwell) know that I do not focus on shipping but when his gym is ready for a 401k, I would be happy to chat. Always be looking for a way to generate business.
I certainly did not fault Douglas for sending the wrong email. Golly knows in 36 years in the financial services industry, I have sent out the occasional wrong email.
The emails that followed were confusing. I described my practice to Douglas, explained my 401k background, and provided my appointment calendar link. What I got back were disjointed replies and emails that indicated he had not read my emails. I began to wonder what this was about. Still, I am not one to disregard an opportunity.
As entrepreneurs, we have to hustle. To quote Les Mis, "Sitting flat on your butt doesn't buy any bread". You must work each and every day on your business and do everything you can to grow it in an ethical and professional manner. I do not know a single entrepreneur who is not thinking about his or her business every day. Following up on leads is important.
Eventually, I became suspicious when the supposed documents about his gym appeared to be a hyperlink as opposed to a PDF. The gym's website was very professional but appeared to have stock photos for the trainers and none of the class schedule links worked. The gym's "phone number" made no mention of the gym's name and most of the phone extensions (ie, press 4 for Accounting) went to a Google voicemail. A Google Streetview of the gym's address showed what looked like a standard two-story office building which gave no indication of there being a gym inside. A Google search of "Gym name, Phoenix Arizona" came back with "There is no such gym in Phoenix".
If Douglas' gym is a 25,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility, certainly it should come up in a search or on a map. His emails should have been more cogent and coherent. A glance at LinkedIn showed no "Douglas Caldwell" in Phoenix working at a gym. In fact, a Google search could not find this person. A scam? Possibly.
But if it is a scam, what is the purpose? As 401k advisors, we work with retirement plans, plan sponsors, and participants. We do not "handle any cash". That is between the payroll department, the plan's record keeper, and the custodian. There is no "scam" opportunity in the 401k space that I can see, particularly with a start-up plan that has $0 in it.
More to the point, why waste my time? What is the end game here? As entrepreneurs, we work ourselves to the bone because we believe that whatever it is we are offering (401k services for me) will be beneficial to society. What is the purpose in yanking my chain? That really gets steam coming out my ears.
I remember driving back from a 2014 Earth Day event at 9 PM. As a sponsor of the event, I spent 8 hours talking about my work with sustainability-minded folks, looking for potential 401k clients. I was dead on my feet. As I drove through the downtown, I saw a light on in a friend's tamale restaurant. The restaurant was closed but she was still in there preparing the next day's masa and sweeping the floor.
This is the life of an entrepreneur. Long hours. Sometimes little return. All efforts put into what we believe in. In her case, she had been on her feet since 7 AM when she opened her doors to the breakfast crowd. And there she was still hard at it at 9 PM.
Yes, I have worked until 3 AM on plan conversions. I am writing this article at 11 PM on a Friday night. We do this because we believe in our businesses and what we have to offer. For someone to try to scam a hardworking entrepreneur is baffling. In Dante's Inferno, the eighth ring is reserved for those who commit fraud. I would be willing to say there should be a special ring just for scammers. Perhaps their punishment should be non-stop inbound telemarketing calls or something similar.
It's late, folks. Thanks for letting me vent and more importantly, for reading this far. Time for me to get back to work. There is more to be done and a difference to be made. This is the entrepreneur's life.