Revenge rarely sweet- better to stick to your knitting!

You own a small business. You have been wronged by a large business in some way. They lied to you. They cheated you. And you think you have a pretty good legal case and are contemplating suing. What should you do?

There is a saying that "revenge is sweet". Maybe. But I do not think that this is what Kerry Stokes would be thinking right now. He (or at least his company, The Seven Network) is potentially facing a cost order for up to $95 Million for action it was taking in the courts against Telstra, News Corp and PBL (among others). The judge has been scathing - against Seven - because Seven was offered a cash settlement of $40 Million early on in the case, but chose to knock this back and go for the sum it felt it was entitled to.

Now this is a long and complicated story - to see the details click here. I do not plan to go into them here.

But there are two sides to every story, as galling as this fact sometimes may seem to someone who has genuinely been wronged. Channel Seven is run by incredibly smart people. Look at the way they have recently slain Chanel Nine in the ratings. Look at Kerry Stokes's life story. These people generally know what they are doing. If all the brain power and expensive legal advice at Chanel Seven was able to come to such grief, then this kind of grief is well in the grasp of the SME owner with limited resources!

Litigation, by its very nature, is always a two sided argument. And the good guys don't always win. Business owners should always carefully consider whether they would be better off making their fortune by committing their financial (and emotional) resources to doing what they do best - instead of staking these resources (and sometimes their future) on a windfall gain via successful litigation.

There are many examples of small business winning their legal battles. You certainly should not allow yourself to be intimidated by big business partners. And you none of what I am saying here applies to chasing money owed to you for work completed or goods delivered where delivery is not being disputed.

I do think however that Channel Seven's experience makes for an important cautionary tale. Revenge is rarely sweet, and sometimes "the best form of revenge is living well"!