Andrew L. Howell - Don’t Invest in a Business With Family

Oct 6, 2022

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BIO: Andrew L. Howell is a Co-Founder of the Salt Lake City law firm York Howell, known as one of Utah’s fastest-growing companies.

STORY: Andrew was convinced by his second cousin to enter a business deal with him and another family member. They took out a loan of $1.7 million. The business was a flop, and the two partners abandoned him, leaving him to bear the burden of repaying the loan.

LEARNING: Don’t get involved in a business you’re unwilling to invest your time and effort into. Don’t bring partners into your life if you can avoid it. Avoid getting involved with family members.

“Don’t bring partners into your life if you can avoid it. If you can do something on your own, do it.”

Andrew L. Howell

Guest profile

Andrew L. Howell is a Co-Founder of the Salt Lake City law firm York Howell, which is known as one of Utah’s fastest-growing companies.

Andrew has built a successful practice throughout the United States with respect to estate planning, asset protection planning, probate, and estate administration, charitable giving, sophisticated business structuring and transactions, and tax planning.

Andrew is most passionate about the family legacy planning that he assists his clients with, and he has a specific focus on ultra-high net worth families and business owners.

He is also the co-author of the book, Entrusted: Building a Legacy That Lasts, which features seven core disciplines of successful wealth transfer of high-net-worth families going back hundreds of years. He is also the co-author of a follow-up book, Riveted: 44 Values That Change the World.

Entrusted has been very well received by the estate planning community and has led to recent speaking engagements with attorneys on the future of estate planning.

Andrew is routinely recognized as a Mountain States Top Lawyer. Utah Business Magazine named him among Utah Legal Elite from 2011 through 2016. The National Advocates recommended Mr. Howell as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Utah.

Andrew enjoys vacationing in Montana with his wife and their three children when not in the office. He is also an avid fly fisherman, hunter, and skier and loves to be outdoors with his family.

Worst investment ever

Andrew had a second cousin who was older and all grown up. He admired and thought highly of him. The guy had gone to Stanford Law and seemed to be successful.

Around 2006 when everybody was making money from real estate, Andrew decided to dip his feet into the field.

The second cousin told him about a building that was being built in Salt Lake in which he had the right to the bottom floor. He asked Andrew and another family member to join him and turn the floor into an office-sharing arrangement.

Andrew figured it was a good idea, and the three got an SBA loan of $1.7 million to purchase the property. Andrew was busy with his day job, so he wasn’t actively involved in running the business. He, therefore, expected his partners to run it.

The partners had zero marketing and zero push for the entire project. They had about 70 offices they needed to rent out, but they never got more than 15% occupied. The business was just hemorrhaging money without bringing in any revenue.

Finally, Andrew’s two partners got tired of pumping money into the business and threw in the towel. This was when Andrew came to find out the second cousin, who he thought was financially successful, didn’t own anything. He was up in debt, didn’t have any assets, and was going to declare bankruptcy. So Andrew was left holding the bag. The business collapsed, and the bank repossessed what it could.

Andrew went through the loss of a relationship. He and his second cousin no longer talk and probably never will. The failed business caused Andrew a tremendous amount of sleepless nights. He was up for months and months thinking about how to come up with $1.7 million. All the equity in his home and retirement accounts were sucked away. He’d get letters from treasury demanding payment for the loan.

Andrew managed to negotiate with the treasury, and instead of paying the $1.7 million loan, he’d pay $70,000. He sold a rental property that he had at the time to come up with that $70,000. That rental property would today be worth twice what it was then.

Lessons learned

Don’t get involved in a business you’re unwilling to put your time and effort into.
Be very careful about partners. Don’t bring partners into your life if you can avoid it. It’s much easier to do something on your own.
Don’t get involved in a business you’re not passionate about.
Avoid getting involved with family members.
Live a purposeful life doing whatever you decide to do.

Andrew’s takeaways

Pay attention to your clients ‘why’ if you want to make a difference.
Stay away from sexy money-making opportunities.
Never invest in anything that someone brings to you.
Business starts with revenue. Without revenue, you’ll never have profits.
Beware of outward appearances.
Protect your energy. When you feel something is draining your energy, try to get out of it.
Apply basic risk management principles in every sphere of your life, and you’ll succeed.

Actionable advice

Just say no and proceed with caution.

Andrew’s recommended resources

Andrew recommends his book Riveted: 44 Values That Change the World for anyone who wants to have a deeper discussion within the family about who they are, what they believe, and what they are trying to pass on beyond the finances by going through each of those 44 values.

No.1 goal for the next 12 months

Andrew’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to develop an independent entrusted process for families that’s not a complimentary service to his legal practice.

Parting words

“I just really appreciate the opportunity to come on the podcast. People want to hear me talk, so I’m happy to do it.”

Andrew L. Howell

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