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“Michael” owned an upscale sports car business. If you wanted to purchase a slightly-used Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Bugatti, Michael was your guy. If you wanted to customize your car with decals, mag wheels, or other “aftermarket” accouterments, call Michael.

It could be a glamorous business, but it has a small, specialized market, not known for high sales volume. When sales are made, the profit margins can be high, but the sales are not frequent.

Michael’s problem was that he spent freely as though the sales were frequent. His business checking accounts were frequently overdrawn, with fees automatically assessed with each overdraft. For a while, we paid many items on his behalf even though the funds were not there, but time and time again, he did not make deposits to cover them. To stop the losses to the bank, we had to stop covering his overdrawn items.

Within certain limits, banks are willing to refund some of these overdraft fees. Such fees are always refunded in the event of fraud of bank error. If you are a good customer, your bank will work with you if you have temporary financial difficulties. If you have one or two overdraft fees per year, a refund is normally granted upon request. Contrary to popular belief, banks do not rely on overdraft fees as a source of revenue or profits. I have never heard bank management anywhere take any pleasure in making money that way. However, processing overdrafts does result in costs to the bank that must be recovered.

To get your bank to work with you in the event of overdrafts or hardship, do the opposite of what Michael did.

When Michael came in to discuss his overdraft fees on a nearly weekly basis, he was normally profane, irate, screaming at us for, “…ripping me the f— off”, and demanding HIS money back. He was, however, always well-dressed in flashy Italian suits, and he never failed to wear dark-shaded, mirrored sunglasses while inside our office talking to us.

He had long since exhausted the “courtesy” refunds we could give him. He threatened to take his business elsewhere, and I offered him polite but firmly enthusiastic encouragement to do exactly that.

I encountered Michael some time ago away from the bank and asked him about his business. He told me that he had given it up. He blamed the “economy”.

Had his business had done well, it is highly unlikely that he would have credited the “economy” for his success. We said our goodbyes. Hopefully he was able to get back in the game a little wiser.

Moral of the story: Accept responsibility for your business and for your actions. When you do, you can turn your mistakes and misfortunes into positive changes if not good fortune. Michael is one of those people who blame themselves for absolutely nothing. Life is seldom easy for such people because they don’t profit from their past mistakes, in business or in life.

**NOTE: All “Bankable Stories” were written by One Click Advisor founder James Chittenden and are true stories of clients that he assisted as a business banker. Names have been changed to protect client confidentiality.