Often businesses are known to be struggling under overwhelming debts. Taking the correct amount of debt, that too, at the perfect time, could make all the difference between a successful business and a business that is struggling for survival. As per statistics provided by the SBA (U.S. Small Business Administration) about 50% of small businesses tend to fail during the initial five years predominantly because of lack of capital, overwhelming debt, and poor credit arrangements.
Most businesses would be looking for loans for fortifying their cash situation, for bolstering financial growth and funding expansion plans. However, the past few years have been extremely critical and difficult for small businesses that ended up borrowing excessively without having the capability of making back what they actually owe. These struggling organizations could have survived the economic recession, had they taken a well-informed and sound borrowing decision in the initial stages. However, there is no scope for retrospection once creditors and debt collectors are after you.
In such a financial crisis situation, the small business owner is left with two options for effectively dealing with debt. The business owner may make all efforts to save his small business by trying his best to settle all outstanding debts or accounts. The other alternative is to let his small business fail of course, with an appropriate exit strategy which would be minimizing or mitigating financial consequences.
Save Your Business
The first choice for the business owner is obviously to try and save his business by using money from his own personal funds and diverting it to his own business. This seems to be a calculated risk which till date has failed an equal number of times as it has tasted success. You could choose this solely as a short-term strategy which promises chances of a long-term repayment of the outstanding debt.
Reduce Costs
If you are not in a position to get rid of the business debt by using private funds, it is essential to identify and determine relevant areas where you could do some effective cost-cutting. May be you could consider subleasing unused space or selling off spare equipment. Even though, shrinking your workforce may not be a desirable option, you may need to do that for keeping your business afloat.
Contact Suppliers & Customers
Keep in touch with your customers. Offer attractive markdowns to top customers if they are able to pay you fast. Contact your suppliers and request them for deferred payments and even discounts if possible.
Get in Touch with Your Creditors
The best debt relief option in case of multiple debts is debt settlement. Try connecting with your debt collectors or creditors and explain to them your predicament. Request lenders to accept lower interest rates, restructure all the existing repayment options, or boost your line of credit. If multiple collection agencies or creditors are running after you, nagging you via phone calls, and taking you away from operating your business seriously, you could get in touch with a legit debt settlement company. They would be negotiating effectively with your creditors for settling all your debts for an amount that is definitely lower than what you had taken out as a loan.
Consolidate Your Loans
You may opt for debt consolidation. The process involves consolidating all your business debts into one single loan and payment that would cut down monthly expenses without impacting your credit score negatively.
Conclusion
When you have tried the above-discussed ways to get out of your small business debts and failed, you may look for remaining alternatives such as selling off the business or liquidating the assets for negotiating a debt settlement with all your creditors. However, when all else fails, you could file for bankruptcy. Of course, it may have some drastic repercussions on your credit report.
Bound by the cities
Bound by another one's pity's
Expect a place to be
Or expect not want to be seen
And I'll take you as walking money
I see you as a pretty big funny
We and I, all have found our place
And you my dear, have barely found a face
Bound to me, and to my briefcase
I'll lend you a smile, but you're a secret disgrace
Find the comfort in another's eyes
But in reality, another girl will have them hooked on their clever disguise
Find a place to be
Or expect not want to be seen
Stuck in a rut
With no qualities, not knowing what
Who are you and what are you in this city?
Gone and withdrawn, alone and all shitty?
Expect a place to see
Or expect us to be mean
For you are bound
What goes around, comes around
You are stuck here, forever with me
With no voice, or founding plea
For you are bound
My slave, to paint my sacred ground
Tell me, is it ever really "Okay?"
At times I wish I could disappear, away from the day.
Tell me, was it really all a mystery?
Or was I really something plagued by history?
Judge me, try to reason my scars,
Yet, were you there for my unreasonable wars?
Did you ever set foot in my shoes?
Taken account of what brings the blues?
Tell me, does it really matter?
If I was any more the sadder?
Perhaps it's just my business, only my trouble.
Not another place to intrude into my bubble.
I'll solve my self alone, and myself alone only
Not for you to break my silence, maybe tonight, I'd just like to be lonely.
Blame my shortcomings for my scars if you dare.
For me, it just occurred, the past isn't something I ever chose to wear.
Election Bingo 2013
The election is coming roundabout
It’s time for us to sort it out
With lies and snipes and promised gold
The game is on for young and old
With three old parties from the past
They all deserve to run dead last
It is our lives with which they play
It’s way past time we had our say
Our paradise you give away
To foreign interests day by day
We dig it up and ship it off
The mining rich at us you scoff
To share the wealth it is a crime
Our men have died to give you time
You pay no tax, you keep it all
Your house of greed in time will fall
And the “Retail Giants” don’t help out
They’ve bashed the farmers all about
Crushed small business all to dust
They need a future, that’s a must
The greedy banks we have today,
Are running wild and boy we pay
We’ve bailed them out, we’ve kept them rich
They won’t help us when life’s a bitch
We’ve paid to keep the car mob’s growing
Building cars that won’t keep going
No hybrids here, just petrol tanks
It’s all because they’re run by yanks
The CSG crowd came to town
Clean and green all up and down
They’ll take the cash then do the bolt
They’ve done it before, now who’s at fault?
In the shadows lurk the “Nuclear Rats”
Trading in lies while living on the fat
Uranium should be left in the ground
It’s our children’s future we can’t let them down
And let’s not leave the media out
On all issues they’ve too much clout
They twist and beat the facts around
Until we can’t tell up from down
Their views are skewed by self interest
They always show their horse as best
The common goods not their concern
It’s all for them, the rest can burn
We’ve let the pollies bow to all these
They’ve brought our families to their knees
It’s time for us to nail them down
Before they shoot thru out of town
Now Tony Abbott says he knows
He’ll show us how to, just say “no”
It seems that where he wants to be
Is back in 1963
He says that when he gets the votes
He’ll show us how to stop the boats
They’re human lives he’s talking about
But does he care, I have some doubt
He’ll cut from health, he’ll cut from schools
There are no complaints from old sick fools
He wants to change back all they’ve done
We’ve paid for it once, the waste has begun
Turnbull, Hockey, wait in the wings
They both dream of bigger things
Julie Bishop’s “Death Ray Stare”
You know what’s coming, best take care
Bob Katter has a lot to say
But only if you’re straight, not gay
Gay marriage rights are settled here
They’re human rights, it’s crystal clear
Barnaby Joyce wears a different hat
He still thinks that the world is flat
He wants it like the way it was
No future for the kids of Oz
Clive Palmer’s jumped into the ring
And is going to fix up everything
He’ll put Australia up on blocks
Then cut it up and sell it off
A ship from history he wants to build
Foreign workers used cause we’re not skilled
Why not plant the seed in our own soil
Reward our country for your dreams toil
He throws eggs from the far cheap seats
And tells us all the ones he’ll beat
Pride always cometh before the fall
Success or regret, it’s too close to call
An “Angry” man has joined the fray
His former life he’s gave away
A trip in a boat has changed his mind
A solution for this he wants to find
He used to be a wild young rocker
His ride in Canberra could be a shocker
He can’t run rough over the people down there
He’s a much better chance of growing long hair
Julia says she has a plan
She’ll move us forward, every man
But the party can’t decide who’ll lead
While they all fight, we all bleed
Ruddy started out alright
Insulation, school buildings, solar light
But people are afraid to change
In 20 years who will we blame?
Warm houses powered by the sun
Our hi speed cable will be fun
Our country now should lead the way
We’ve got it all, and we can pay
Christine, Adam, Sarah Young
The Greens are aiming for the sun
But to change it all within a day
You have to learn the way to play
You have to teach, you have to show
Don’t go too fast, just go slow
The big three have maligned you all
Australia now should hear your call
And wise and old Nick Xenophon
It’s just a shame he’s only one
He stands up and he stands up tall
He’s the only one with balls
He talks with calm, he talks with sense
He just won’t sit up on the fence
He tackles tough, he plays the ball
He fights for one, he fights for all
The barrel rolls and the numbers drop
The decisions made we have to cop
Democracy is not an ego game
Our apathy now is our future shame
It’s time to speak up, have your say
Black or white, straight or gay
Our future now is in on the brink
Don’t let it all wash down the sink
So there’s your choices, have a pick
Some are good, some are thick
But just remember when you vote
One day we might be on the boat.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of Neville John Gourley, 2 Sarah Court, Capalaba, Queensland 4157, and dated 02-05-2013.
I come from a land ravaged by suburbia
and pillaged by consumerism.
Savage businessmen wielding briefcases bursting with misery—
documents and papers detailing the death of society,
the rise of tyranny and bureaucracy,
the reign of money.
The fame of capitalism reeks of concrete and iron,
chemical cleansers and emporiums of oil drums.
Industrial war guns beat the rhythm of the new society,
give the view of this despondency,
this chaotic wreck of a failed experiment
somehow managing
to perpetuate itself,
still able to infiltrate ourselves and be absorbed
by that impetuous sponge,
that inherently bilious,
developed ambitious
mass of empiricism,
reasoning imperialism as logical and somehow making capitalism
suitable,
dressing the able in suits,
putting the apes in cages for entertainment on weekends when their boss says,
“Take the day off.”
The suits rip their identity asunder and indulge at their pillaged lands as a vacation
just to go back on Monday and repeat the process.
An assemblage of machine gears and levers automate the system,
driven by goals and future-mindedness,
unconscious sustainment of egoism,
despite the conflict,
regardless of intuitive compulsion reasoned as abhorrent by specialized experts.
I without me is revolt.
‘Tis the purity gleaming through prisms producing vast vibrancy—
breathtaking beauty leaves me lightheaded,
discordant with this SHIT propagated by elected leaders,
collective breeders of ideas and identities,
destroyers of loving societies.
An intoxicating smog fills our lungs with stable satisfaction,
or at least adequate apathy to leave us complacent,
but carrying the catarrh,
coughing up blood and tar,
emitting exhaust like a diesel truck.
Poisoned by our own action, a different course must discernibly be followed,
perhaps no course at all, but the presence of just one essence:
Love
-Ryan K. Fuller