Sometimes it just isn't any fun...

Seems like a little less than a year ago, I started blogging to chronicle my impending bankruptcy.  Had a good turn of fortune for a few months and was able to pull out.  Now, I'm back and on the brink again. 

I'm just so worn out and tired right now.  No money in the bank.  Had to take out another cash advance on a credit card to make payroll.  All tapped out, now.  Nothing left.  We do have some A/R, but lord only knows when it will come in.

I am racing to try and finish my J.D. before the business goes under.  At the current time, I would rate my chances of winning this race at less than 50%.  Still, I have no choice but to soldier on.

The weather continues to be a cruel joke.  The unseasonably nice weather has lasted for almost 3 straight years, now. 

To top it all off, the soon-to-be ex is somehow convinced that I'm holding out on her somehow.  She thinks I have money that I'm not divulging.  Probably being egged on by an incompetent shyster divorce attorney.  All they'd have to do is pull a credit bureau and they'd know everything they need to know. 

We'll see how it goes, but right now, things are pretty bleak.  Could be chronicling the bankruptcy any time, now. 

All I can do is take it one week at a time.  If it happens, it happens.  I'm still a year + away from things getting better, and they won't start to get noticeably better until Summer 2013.

Although the analogy is grossly politically incorrect, it's as though it's Little Bighorn and I'm surrounded.  Every moment, I'm fighting, but my only hope is for the cavalry to come charging.  I can't win the way the battle is rolling out right now. 

Trouble is, the cavalry is a long ways off.  In a couple of months, I'll be 1/3 through with my law degree.  (Provided I pass all my classes... not exactly a foregone conclusion.)  However, that cavalry regiment is more than 2 years away.  Throw in passing the bar and starting a practice and that's truly a long-term fix.

The debt starts being retired in a year and a half.  Then, things get progressively better for a year after that.  However, that's more than a year off and it won't fully come to the rescue for nearly three years. 

The only other thing that could save me would be the condition of the business, now.  If sales pick up, I'll be fine.  However, the trend has been going in clearly the opposite direction. 

So, what do I do?  Keep circling the troops.  Keep firing as best I can.  Try to hang on for those long-term fixes, and meanwhile pray for an unexpected reprieve. 

Things haven't exactly gone my way, but I don't have much other choice.

Will keep ya posted.  So far, this sucks.

This Economy is Such a Joy

Had to let go of another employee, lowering our headcount to 4.  It continues to be a situation where no matter how much I slash, I'm always behind.  We continue to lose volume.  On the bright side, I've slashed costs.  Our nut is pretty small right now.  We should be profitable at any volume over $300,000 or so. 

I find myself drifting in time to when I start paying off the notes.  That's too far off, and I'm afraid I'm going to wear myself out on that, but in a little more than a year, it starts.  The idea that this will free up over $40,000 a year in cash flow is pretty much what I have to look forward to in this business.

The other way to attack this is through sales.  We absolutely must increase sales if this business is going to be worthwhile at all.  One thing is for sure.  We haven't had good sales since mid-2009.  This will be three straight bad years.  Hard to believe I'm still standing after all this.

I need to just get the debt paid off, finish law school, and sell the business and move on.  This is not how I want to spend the rest of my life.