Bob of Small End (24 page)

During their
tea break they discussed the money they’d be putting into the
business.

“
If we
start our partnership yesterday, April 1st, that is, if the lawyer
says we can do that before we sign the formal agreement, we can
calculate what we should put in after accounting for what we’ve
already spent,” said Ken.

“
All
right. You do the maths, here’s my calculator,” and Bob took it out
of a kitchen drawer. “I’ll assume the toys I’ve got are sold on the
thirty percent commission rate. On April 1st I had twenty villages.
I would get £17.50 for those since they’re sold for £25. I had five
farms, for which I get £15.75 and 14 trains. I get £10.50 for them.
What does all that add to?”

“
£575.75. No, that’s not all we should include Bob. Your
retailers have sets don’t they? We have to include
that.”

“
I guess
so. Okay. Just a minute.” He went to the lounge where he had left
his account book. “I’ll do the villages first: Rose has 5, Jenny
has 3 and Leo has 2. Now farm sets: Rose 1, Jenny 3 and Leo 7.
Train sets: Rose 3, Jenny 3 and Leo 3. What does all that come
to?”

“
Just a
minute. £490. So adding that to £575.75 makes £1,065.75. So you are
giving the partnership £1,065.75. That means you should put £2,550
less £1,065.75 or £1,484.25 into the company. Let’s make it £1,450.
That would add a little for other assets in this workshop, the
wood, paints, hooks and eyes, etc.. Would that be okay for
you?”

“
Yes of
course. £1,450, I’ve enough in my savings account to cover that.
How about the money you need to put in Ken. It shouldn’t be £2,450
because you paid for the band saw, the routers and the bits. What
did all that cost?”

“
£105.”

“
So you
should put in £2,345. Right?”

“
Yes.
We’ll do all the money transfers after we have signed the
agreement, I guess. I’ll keep these notes and tell Arthur the
amounts tomorrow.”

“
Okay.”

“
How
long did it take you to make the village, farm and train sets you
have in the shed Bob?”

“
Probably two weeks. It depends on how many hours I work each
day. The most I do is about eight. Usually it’s less.”

“
Then
you were earning about £12,500 a year.”

“
But I
don’t work all the time. When it was a hobby I never worked all
day. Rose didn’t sell very many each year. It’s the thought of
having a holiday each winter that made me want to make
more.”

“
Well.
I’ve no idea how much we’ll make in a year but if we work for only
half the year then we should make several times that much using the
jigs. Provided we can sell them, of course.”

“
It’s a
good job we don’t really need the money isn’t it.”

“
It’s
surprising how useful it is, once you’ve got more than you need.
There are plenty of ways to spend it other than taking
holidays.”

“
I
suppose so. I think about it from time to time but I try to keep my
head. I’ll wait until the money is in the bank before thinking
about how I’ll spend it.”

By one o’clock
they had finished the last pieces of the forty five farms and
stopped for lunch.

“
We’ll
give them their first coat of paint after lunch. Did you bring
sandwiches?”

“
Yes
they’re in the car.”

During lunch
Bob showed Ken the railway lamp. “You know my father was the
station master and I took that job when he retired. This is a
memento of those days. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have
been if I hadn’t followed him. What did your Dad do Ken?”

“
He was
an engineer, a mechanical engineer, and he worked for Morris, in
the design shop. I suppose my interest in mechanical things comes
from him. My mother was a teacher but stayed at home after I was
born. I started work at the furniture factory in 1960, when I was
nineteen. I had my matric but didn’t want to go to university. I
wanted to earn money and marry Mary. My parents didn’t want me to
do that, they wanted me to go to university, but they gave way in
the end. The factory suited me almost immediately and I worked my
way up the ranks. It was an interesting life and challenging too,
as the machinery we used improved and we began to use particle
board and other cost cutting products. I’m sorry the company was
bought out. As Mary told you, I’ve been at a bit of a loss
wondering what to do with my life since then. But this venture’s
beginning to absorb me. I think I’d like to continue doing this for
several years, building the business.”

“
Well,
it’s a bit different for me Ken. I can see that we can expand, that
we can make money, but I’m not sure that I want to do that for the
rest of my life. I was fairly adapted to retirement and my
woodworking was just a hobby. All this change is a bit frightening.
I’d really like to go more slowly but we’ll see how it works out.
Right now I’m happy, though I’m also a bit anxious. I’m glad we’re
working together. You’ve lots of ideas and plenty of
energy.”

“
I like
what we’re doing, too. Ready to start again?”

“
Yes.”

“
Let’s
bring the farms here. We can paint them on the kitchen
table.”

They collected
the boxes holding the pieces and tried to put them all on the
kitchen counter. “There’s too many,” said Bob. “We can’t do the
painting here Ken, there’s not enough room. We’ll have to paint
them in the shop.”

“
I don’t
think there’s enough room there, either, once they’re spread out to
dry. We could make some shelves to put them on.”

“
Or
widen the existing shelves with wood supports, held onto the
existing shelves with clamps; we could put the boards on them. That
way we could remove them when cutting so they wouldn’t be in the
way. It would be awkward but workable. Since acrylic dries in a
couple of hours we could probably do a complete paint job in one
day. How about trying that?”

“
Okay.
Let’s see if it’ll work.”

They carried
the boxes back to the shop, made two wood supports and clamped them
into place. After painting for about five minutes Ken said, “You
know, we could use a spray gun to give them their first coat, or,
at least, most of their first coat. Some of it we’d still have to
do with a brush. I think it would speed things up.”

“
Where
would we spray?”

“
Don’t
know. We couldn’t do it outside. Maybe we’d have to build another
shed.”

“
Oh
dear. I’m beginning to feel like Mary must have felt. I don’t want
to do that Ken.”

“
Okay.
We won’t. It’s just an idea.”

After each
piece had been painted they put it on a plank, then put the planks
on the supports once full. By five they had painted most of the
first coat on the fifty sets. Bob said he would finish them after
supper.

“
Don’t
you have a driving lesson?”

“
Not
until eight tonight. I have to practice driving in the
dark.”

“
Have
fun.”

“
I
will.”

Chapter 10 Signing papers

Supper over,
and the rest of the fifty farms painted, Bob sat down by his window
waiting for Peter. It was very dark when he arrived and Bob felt a
bit anxious.

“
Where
will I drive Peter?”

“
I’d
like you to drive along the main road to Big End. It’s wide and you
shouldn’t have any trouble. When a car approaches look to the left
edge of the road. If you think the road is wide enough for two cars
to pass easily just keep driving but keep close to the left side.
You do that so the oncoming driver’s lights don’t blind you and so
you won’t drive into him. Sometimes that’s what people do if they
stare at the headlights. You’ll be fine along this
road.”

And so they
were. Five cars drove towards them on their way into Big End and
Bob passed each of them easily. Bob remembered to dim his
headlights in each case. One car overtook them. Once they arrived
in Big End Peter asked him to drive along the main street. Near the
end he was told to do a three-point turn and then park between two
cars.

“
Perfect. Now I want you to drive through some of the
narrower streets. Go a bit slower than you would in day time. If
the gap between you and an approaching car seems very narrow just
slow down. You can even stop if you like. The other driver would
have more experience than you and he or she will drive past you.
Just keep to the left all the time and you’ll be all
right.”

Bob had to
slow almost to a stop three times. Once he did stop the car as
several cars left the parking lot of a pub and drove towards him.
One or two of them were moving a little from side to side and he
guessed their drivers might have had a bit too much to drink.

“
You did
the right thing there Bob. If you were stopped and they hit you it
would have been their fault, no questions asked. So we’ll drive
through a few more streets then go home. I’ll quiz you on the
manual as we go.”

They were back
at Tim’s garage by nine o’clock.

“
Would
you like to go to the Crown for a drink Peter?”

“
Not
tonight Bob. Let’s do that when you’ve passed your test. Now on
Thursday and Sunday we’ll drive to Bournemouth and practice driving
along the streets that they use during the tests. Those lessons
will take about ninety minutes. Will that be okay?”

“
Oh yes.
Will we leave at five on Thursday?”

“
Yes.
There will be rather a lot of traffic on the major roads but that’s
no bother to you. Also people will be parking their cars along the
roads in Bournemouth, that might be a little more difficult but
you’ll be okay. I’ll see you Thursday then.”

“
Yes.
Thanks’. I’ll be waiting for you. Oh, I almost forgot. Here’s the
cheque for my March lessons.”

Bob gave Peter
an envelope then got out of the car and walked home. ‘This is an
exciting time,’ he thought as he made his way up the hill. ‘So many
different things to do. So much to think about. I wish Betty was
here. I’d like to discuss it all with her.’ He then felt a little
sad and promised himself a glass of Chardonnay to cheer up. As
expected the wine was fine and it tasted just as nice as it did the
day before so he had another while watching the extension to the
news. Then, at ten, he went to bed.

He was waiting
on the road when Ken pulled up the next morning.

“
Hi Bob.
When I filled my tank this morning Peter said you were sure to pass
your test. Would you like to drive my car to
Southampton?”

“
I’d
like that Ken but it’s an automatic, isn’t it?”

“
Yes.”

“
Then
I’d rather not. I don’t want to alter my driving habits until I’ve
passed the test. Thanks for offering but I’ll be happier just
watching what you do.”

So Ken drove
and Bob watched. They talked a little about driving and how other
drivers on the road were behaving on the way and arrived at
Arthur’s office just before ten. His secretary showed them in and a
tray of coffee and biscuits followed. They talked about the weather
for a minute or two then the lawyer put his cup down.

“
Are you
ready to go through the partnership form? If so I’ll ask my
secretary, Jennifer, to join us. She’ll take notes.”

Ken smiled at
Bob, “Yes we’re ready.” Arthur called his secretary on the
intercom, “Bring your notebook please Jenny.

“
This is
Mr. Bob Barns and Mr. Ken Smith. They’re forming a
partnership.”

“
Oh
that’s interesting. I like working with those
contracts.”

“
Jennifer’s helped me with several. If I’m not here and you
have a question it’s likely she can help you. Now let’s start at
the top of the forms.”

They pulled
out their copies and went through each item.

“
I have
your names and addresses. What will you call the
partnership?”

“
Small End Wooden Toys
,” replied Bob.

“
No.
That might be your trade name. How about
Bob and Ken
? Or
Robert
Barns and Kenneth Smith
?”

“
Oh I
see. I’m happy with either. How about you Ken?”

“
Either
is fine.”

“
Then I
suggest we use both the Christian and surname. That way there’s
less chance it will be confused with another. What is the address
of the partnership?’

“
Use
Bob’s address Arthur.”

“
What
does the partnership do?”

“
Runs a
company that makes wooden toys.”

“
Okay.
Will you add other partners?”

“
I don’t
think so. If we ever wanted to do that is it difficult?”

“
Not if
you have a simple partnership, which I think yours will be. When do
you want to start this partnership. How about May 1st?”

“
Ah no.
We want to start it April 1st.”

“
Why?”

“
Because
we have already started working together and because we have
assessed the assets as of that date.”