my silent partner just called and left a message on my voice mail letting me know that she has to pull out of our arrangement. mind you this is one week before i was to sign the papers on the building. boy am i hurt. it was supposed to be catering and cake decorating with her doing the majority of the catering part. not to mention that i just purchased the 3 compartment sink and display cases 2 days ago and was depending on her half of the rent and deposit.
That's horrible! I doubt that she made this decision overnight, so it's pretty tacky to stick it to you like this, at the last minute. I do cakes and catering so I really know how this will impact your business.
God would not let you come this far to allow you to fail.
I'm with Lalana, thank Heavens she told you before you were tied into a lease and left all alone to pay it! Still, that was very uncool that she left it as a message on your machine. Phone break-ups are so tacky. I hope you can still find a way to move forward! Good luck!!
I am so sorry that you are having to go thru this. I completely know how you feel. Last year me and my partner were to open a bakery (where I would do ALL the work) he was my financial backer. I had even put a bid on a building for 150,000 (thank god they did not except the offer) but just a couple of weeks later he backed out on me saying that there were just too many "unknowns" in this business and he felt it was too risky. Mind you this was after I had filled my garage with over 10,000 worth of equipment and fixtures. Obviously I could not just let it go and forget about the "dream" I had too much invested already so I did what I did not really want to do and got a 2nd mortgage and opened my own place in Sept. 2006. Needless to say that the backer was a little unhappy when I went forward regardless of him. Just keep your head up. It WILL work out. You just have to get creative and find a way to make it work.
Like they all said, it is better that you found out now. Unfortunately, you already started buying your equipment. Will you be able to return the purchases you just made? If not, contact an attorney ASAP to see if what you had would be considered a verbal agreement, and if you would be able to recoup any of the money you just lost.
Theresa 
my daughter had previously told me that she would go half and half on the rent but i felt bad about having to depend on my daughter. so i really was happy when this person came forward. now i'm going to have and ask my daughter for help until i get on my feet. i guess i'm more upset over the fact that this person actually came to me and asked in. i had previously passed on renting from this person because i didn't think that i could afford it. but i let this person convience me that everything would be okay and we would do this together. i'm not saying it won't be okay but .... i'll just have to work a little harder. my daughter has no desire to learn cake decorating she's just trying to help her mom. part of me feels good that my daughter would help but the other part of me feels bad that i have to depend on my daughter for help.
i'll be okay.....one day the silent partner will regret missing the opportunity. so for now i know that i can only depend on me and the good lord.
UPDATE------ GAINED ANOTHER SILENT PARTNER...LOST MY CAR.
can you guess who my new silent partner is?
my daughter has decided that she will be my silent partner. but in return, i had to give her my car until she is able to purchase one...... i accepted that offer faster than you can blink your eye.
GOD IS GOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Maybe she was your intended partner in the first place. God knows the end from the beginning. So important to trust Him!
Congrats to you and your daughter! Can't wait to hear more about your venture!
Thank God...my heart ached for you. All things happen for a reason....and just wait, He has so much more in store for you because of what happened & how it happened. Congrats!! I travel around your parts alot so PM me your location so I can make my way over and check you ladies out!
I wish you so much success!!! Glory to God always!
i'll let you know tomorrow....that is provided she comes to her door when i go to see her in the morning.
edited to add: but you know what. maybe it was meant for it to happen this way because i had been looking at those buildings for months but changed my mind after they said how much rent would be. i would not have went ahead and let the lady know that i wanted the building if the first silent partner had not promised to pay half of the rent. by the time she pulled out my heart was set on the building and although i previously told my daughter no i was truly glad that she was still willing to step in.
Isn't it amazing how things just seem to work themselves out sometimes?! I am also a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. What a wonderful daughter you have!! I'm so glad that things are going to work out for you!! 
hi wespam,
i'm in fairfield but the building is in birmingham. it's actually less than 3 minutes from where i live. are you close enough to muscle shoals that you can participate in their rent a kitchen program (can't remember what its acutally called but there was a posting about it here on cc)?
my daughter had previously told me that she would go half and half on the rent but i felt bad about having to depend on my daughter. so i really was happy when this person came forward. now i'm going to have and ask my daughter for help until i get on my feet. i guess i'm more upset over the fact that this person actually came to me and asked in. i had previously passed on renting from this person because i didn't think that i could afford it. but i let this person convience me that everything would be okay and we would do this together. i'm not saying it won't be okay but .... i'll just have to work a little harder. my daughter has no desire to learn cake decorating she's just trying to help her mom. part of me feels good that my daughter would help but the other part of me feels bad that i have to depend on my daughter for help.
i'll be okay.....one day the silent partner will regret missing the opportunity. so for now i know that i can only depend on me and the good lord.
It's ok to depend on your daughter. She depended on you for at least 18 years and probably still does in some ways. I am sure she is thrilled to be paying you back some of the support you have given to her for so long. My major motto is; Pray for God things, not just good things. I remember when you posted about this a week or so ago several of us were praying for you then so maybe you should take this as a "God thing" and know there is a divine reason for it happening. You are probably being protected from something big. Maybe with this other person you would have lost everything in business, but with your daughter and yourself you will lose nothing, but grow into the thriving business you wish to have.
You go girls!! Mom and daughter teams are veeeeery hard to beat!
update: just met with my former silent partner and the reason she had to pull out is because she is trying to protect her son and keep him from going to jail for non-payment of child support. therefore, she agreed to pay the child support and he is already 3 months behind so she has to catch up on the payments. we work together as customer service reps and from what our other co-workers are telling me she was very upset about it. we hadn't told anyone that we were going into business together but she told them yesterday and they say she actually was about to cry because she felt like she was letting me down. i explained that i was initially hurt but you have to do what you have to when it comes to your children so i understand. i also let her know that my daughter has stepped in and i'm pushing forward.
as long as i follow God's footsteps there is no way i can go wrong.
Muscle Shoals is quite a drive from here. I wish you well in your new business. I'll be quiting my full time job in April to spend more time with my mother who is declining in health at the nursing home. She has alzheimer's. I don't want her to be alone in her last days. Then with Gods blessings I hope to use the talents that he's give me to decorate cakes. I would like to eventually become legal and find a kitchen to bake in not necessarly a store front but I would also consider working with a bakery for more experience as I would like to do wedding cakes. I'm just taking one day at a time for now. Pam from Bama
Happy for you! I hope everything works out. I'm looking into going into culinary school in Birmingham so if everything works out and you need some assistance, I'm yours!
I was looking into baking at the Shoals Culinary Center (its actually in Florence) but I quickly figured out it was something I couldnt do alone.
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