Discovering that you are in business with someone whose moral, ethical or commercial stance is seriously different from your own after the business relationship has begun to develop can lead to a very rude and expensive awakening in my experience. I've come across cases where business deals have been struck before even the basic kind of checks - like, for example, a new customer's ability to pay - were made. At the top of the list of things to look into more closely are creditworthiness, the ownership of claimed assets and past business performance. It's all too easy to delude yourself that someone is a successful businessperson if you take them at face value. Perhaps they drive an expensive luxury car and conducted the business overtures at a reassuringly impressive home or expensive restaurant. But the car could be hired, the home could be rented by the week or month, and anybody can book a table.
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