Hometown Video and Ice Cream Parlor opened, and we were hopeful that our mistakes were behind us.

The first few days were promising – there was a steady stream of business. We were even close to breaking even the first week. Everyone was happy. We figured that we’d soon be profitable and planning our expansion.

Then, another problem surfaced. Pete stopped showing up everyday. After the first week, I found myself working long retail hours. I was opening and closing the store, by myself, 6 days a week. Pete came in one day a week to relieve me. I quickly grew to resent this arrangement.

In fairness to Pete, I should have expected he would be an absentee owner. Our work schedule was yet another complexity caused by our uneven partnership.

Pete had a considerable nest egg acquired though years of successful entrepreneurial labor. He didn’t need to make money right away, and he wasn’t paid for any time he spent working on the business.

The truth is there was no reason to have more than one of us working and since I needed to draw an income from the business and he didn’t, it was logical that I put in the long hours. I worked about 65 hours each week for $400.

Still, I didn’t count on it playing out this way when I signed up to be Pete’s partner. I would continue to feel lonely and isolated throughout the tenure of our partnership.

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