Dan owned an auto parts franchise and wanted to begin selling parts online. Mike, a business acquaintance, offered to partner with Dan to develop an online auto parts store. Dan was impressed with other web sites that Mike had built and decided to go along with the partnership. After eight months, the web site was complete and enjoying strong sales, but the company was still not showing a profit. Mike realized that in his haste to move forward on the project, he had never taken the time to look into Dan's background. Mike decided to look a little deeper into Dan's past and, as it turned out, Dan was in serious debt. Dan had a sizeable tax lien, was in the midst of a divorce, and his franchises were involved in serious civil litigation. With a more thorough analysis of the company's financial records, Mike determined that Dan had been embezzling company funds to cover his personal expenses. Mike wished that he had taken the time to look into Dan's past at the beginning of the partnership.
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