My situation is nearly hopeless, but not completely so. There are realistic, foreseeable scenarios where I could pull out of all this. I just need some things to go my way. Lately, I haven't had much luck. In the past, we've had things turn out better.
One thing I may need to try and do, though, is sell one of the trucks. These industrial trucks retain their value pretty well. I might be able to make a little bit on the sale, versus what I owe on it. That would give me both a little bit of cash, but would also free up the $399 payment I make every month. It would also let me avoid maintenance and insurance costs on it. All told, it'd be maybe $450 or so in terms of monthly cash flow.
We can handle our business with two production trucks. It's very hard to rationalize having more trucks than people. If I didn't have the note on the truck, I'd sell it, now. Not sure how problematic this will be, but there are ways to get it done.
Beyond that, I don't see many ways to come up with substantial cost avoidance, here. We're down to 4 employees. We haven't been this small since year two.
Breaking the company down much below its current level is something I will really be loathe to do. If it gets much worse, it will probably be time to liquidate the assets and call it quits. I hope it doesn't come to that, but frankly, business reality doesn't run on hope.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Introduction
I'm a middle aged guy who is trying like the dickens not to become financial roadkill during this recession. Life isn't exactly good right now, financially.
I have a wife, but we're separated, living in separate homes. We'll be getting divorced as soon as one or the other of us can afford to do all the legal stuff involved. Until then, we're still married.
I have a little boy and I'm really trying not to make him suffer for any of this.
I own my own business and since about mid 2009, it's been completely dead in the water. It's a franchise, which brings its own set of problems. I don't blame the franchisor for my predicament, though. They've been great and the things that have happened to me have been outside of anybody's control.
I do have a pretty good education, but I find myself wondering what good it is, now and then. Suffice to say, it's hard to jump back into employment when your degree is almost two decades old and the last job you had paid twice what an entry level job pays. To boot, I've been self-employed for six years.
As I said, things are bad. I've been out of money for a while, now and I'm getting close to being out of credit. This past week, it finally hit me like a ton of bricks that I may have to declare bankruptcy. Really, if it craters my finances, so be it. I took my chances. I'll take the hit.
I do want it not to affect my soon to be ex wife, though. She's a good person who worked hard her whole life. She doesn't deserve any of this.
Lately, I've been considering the possibility of calling my credit card companies, telling them that I'll be declaring bankruptcy, and seeing if they'll accept an offer of settlement. I have no idea if they will or won't, but it's getting to the point to where it may be worth a try.
In the best of all worlds (other than the best-case, where my biz starts making enough money that none of these problems exist), I could keep my car, house and business. The business has a lot of debt, but I think if I could get rid of my personal debt and the credit card debt of the business, that may give me enough breathing room to survive a little longer.
I don't know how my business could survive without credit cards, but we'll see. If I can pick and chose which accounts to settle, I may be able to keep a credit card or two. If I could keep one for myself (for things like buying airfare, etc.) and one for the business, that would probably be enough.
As is, I think I can hang on another month. After that, things will get problematic pretty quickly if business doesn't pick up.
So, what went wrong? The weather. My business depends on natural disasters. Not huge ones, but things like hard rains and deep freezes. Used to be, we had about 3 of them a year. They kept us busy enough to stay profitable. At our peak, we had 14 employees. Now, we're down to 4. One of them is part-time.
I feel like a dust bowl farmer. Believing that the weather will get better all the while, one year rolls into the next and I'm deeper and deeper in the hole. It's hard to depend on this. I really need to do something new. When this business is good, it's very, very good. When it's bad, there's nothing worse.
I'm trying to change careers again, but even that is a gamble. I've been accepted to the local law school. Who knows, though. I may be able to start the program, but not finish, if my finances crater. There's just no telling.
I'm at the mercy of so many factors outside my control, it gets discouraging sometimes. I just need to stay as upbeat as I can and do the best I can. That's all I can do.
I have a wife, but we're separated, living in separate homes. We'll be getting divorced as soon as one or the other of us can afford to do all the legal stuff involved. Until then, we're still married.
I have a little boy and I'm really trying not to make him suffer for any of this.
I own my own business and since about mid 2009, it's been completely dead in the water. It's a franchise, which brings its own set of problems. I don't blame the franchisor for my predicament, though. They've been great and the things that have happened to me have been outside of anybody's control.
I do have a pretty good education, but I find myself wondering what good it is, now and then. Suffice to say, it's hard to jump back into employment when your degree is almost two decades old and the last job you had paid twice what an entry level job pays. To boot, I've been self-employed for six years.
As I said, things are bad. I've been out of money for a while, now and I'm getting close to being out of credit. This past week, it finally hit me like a ton of bricks that I may have to declare bankruptcy. Really, if it craters my finances, so be it. I took my chances. I'll take the hit.
I do want it not to affect my soon to be ex wife, though. She's a good person who worked hard her whole life. She doesn't deserve any of this.
Lately, I've been considering the possibility of calling my credit card companies, telling them that I'll be declaring bankruptcy, and seeing if they'll accept an offer of settlement. I have no idea if they will or won't, but it's getting to the point to where it may be worth a try.
In the best of all worlds (other than the best-case, where my biz starts making enough money that none of these problems exist), I could keep my car, house and business. The business has a lot of debt, but I think if I could get rid of my personal debt and the credit card debt of the business, that may give me enough breathing room to survive a little longer.
I don't know how my business could survive without credit cards, but we'll see. If I can pick and chose which accounts to settle, I may be able to keep a credit card or two. If I could keep one for myself (for things like buying airfare, etc.) and one for the business, that would probably be enough.
As is, I think I can hang on another month. After that, things will get problematic pretty quickly if business doesn't pick up.
So, what went wrong? The weather. My business depends on natural disasters. Not huge ones, but things like hard rains and deep freezes. Used to be, we had about 3 of them a year. They kept us busy enough to stay profitable. At our peak, we had 14 employees. Now, we're down to 4. One of them is part-time.
I feel like a dust bowl farmer. Believing that the weather will get better all the while, one year rolls into the next and I'm deeper and deeper in the hole. It's hard to depend on this. I really need to do something new. When this business is good, it's very, very good. When it's bad, there's nothing worse.
I'm trying to change careers again, but even that is a gamble. I've been accepted to the local law school. Who knows, though. I may be able to start the program, but not finish, if my finances crater. There's just no telling.
I'm at the mercy of so many factors outside my control, it gets discouraging sometimes. I just need to stay as upbeat as I can and do the best I can. That's all I can do.
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