Board Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy
Dealing with Charlotte small business owners with financial difficulties, I see every day how shrewd money management would have helped them stay afloat. This goes beyond looking for discounts and going without. A recent article in Inc. magazine talked about some techniques that used to be available only to large companies that have become affordable for some smaller companies. The article … [Read more...]
Despite the bulls on Wall Street, smaller companies are simply unable to tap new financing as easily as large corporations. Midsize companies that can't borrow at a scale that interests investors, and according to the WSJ, those firms are "already saddled with the weakest credit ratings." It's even worse for small businesses that depend on their local lenders. This weekend on Carolina Business … [Read more...]
Sure, your commercial bank is FDIC insured. Does that give you any peace of mind when you're trying to renegotiate your loan or line of credit? It shouldn't. We are aware from our clients that when the FDIC becomes involved, it’s ever so much more difficult – if not impossible – to get anywhere on a forbearance, modification, refinance, or other issues affecting commercial … [Read more...]
Sadly, these business bankruptcy filing statistics from the ABA tell the tale too well. What the graph doesn't show is in what we see in our practice: some businesses are out of business before their owners acknowledge the fact. If you're not paying yourself, if you're having trouble renewing a line of credit, if your lease is due for an increase that you can't afford, BE PROACTIVE seeking … [Read more...]
This chart proves that small businesses here in Charlotte are not alone in complaining about tight cash flow. With bank financing so difficult to obtain, it's no wonder owners turn to the only source of cash flow they can obtain: credit cards. The reason for going into business is to MAKE MONEY. A business exists to pay its owners, not the other way around. Too often we see business owners … [Read more...]
I recently saw an article quoting an American Express Open poll that only half of small business owners reported paying themselves a salary. That's bad, but gets worse when you learn how little they pay themselves; 44 percent earn less than $50,000. If the business owner can’t pay him or herself for any extended period of time, then something’s wrong. You can't hide problems with … [Read more...]
If you're one of the (few) business owners who has managed to keep your financial head above water in this economy, here are some tips for making more headway with your credit worthiness. These tips, in particular, will help you navigate a downturn more easily: BNET says: Separate business and personal accounts. Log and submit all business payment activity under accounts that are exclusively … [Read more...]
Beware the "business consultants" and "business advisers" who promise small business owners and sole proprietors that they can take care of debt problems. Over the past few years, we've seen small business owners who fall victim to such scams. Anatomy of a scam Sometimes, small business owners come to us with tremendous business debts and and tell us that they hired an "advisor" or … [Read more...]
We counsel small business owners and the self-employed daily in our offices. Many operate on credit and debit cards because bank financing is so hard to obtain. Small Business Issues with Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility Act For reasons outlined below (excerpted from this MSNBC article), our credit card debt counseling load is likely to increase in the wake of the new Credit Card … [Read more...]
It's a sign of the times that we too often write about helping small business restructure their enterprises or file for bankruptcy protection. When a piece of news comes across that might help small businesses stay afloat, we're happy to write about it as well. Small Business Lending Success This article in the LA Times caught my attention because it highlights small business lending success. … [Read more...]