If It All Goes Wrong Don't Rush to Bankruptcy

It's a sickening feeling when you realize your debts are starting to stack up, your marketing strategy seems to be failing, and it appears as if you'll never be profitable. Now you find your family is getting stressed, your business can't pay its bills, and customers are starting to make angry phone calls asking why the work they paid for isn't happening.

By this point, most people are ready to throw in the towel. There’s some good reasons why you shouldn't be one of those people.

A Proverb

There's an old Chinese proverb that states: “the temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.” Nowhere is this more true than when you’re operating a home business. You might feel as if you're failing, so much so that you feel like giving up. The paradox, though, is this — you haven't really failed until you've given up.

Never Fear

If you really want to, there will always be ways to raise money for your company. You’ve probably accumulated all sorts of debts for things you don't use, not to mention possessions that could be sold or downgraded. Did you know the average person has thousands of dollars worth of random stuff just lying around in their home? In other words, you can always find the money if you're really determined and not afraid of losing everything.

The only thing you should really try to protect is your house and some money for basic food — everything else is expendable. Never forget, the worst thing that can really happen to you is that you'll have to go out and try to get a job. Would that really be so tragic?

Fear is a major enemy in business. You should never give in to your fear and give up before you've given it your all. So many home and small businesses fail because their owners chicken out and run away at the first sign of trouble.

The Captain Goes Down with His Ship

When the chips are down, the only thing you can do is to stake your personal success on the success of your business. So what's the point in bailing out before you have to since you're guaranteed to lose money that way.

Someone once said the difference between an average Joe and an entrepreneur is this: the entrepreneur will not give up on a business until his creditors come and take everything he owns — and even then he might try to hide from them and keep things going from his friend's basement.

Don't Tell Customers

It might seem dishonest, but for goodness' sake don’t tell any of your customers that things are going wrong because your business is in trouble. They’ll quickly run a mile from you, putting your business in a far worse situation than it was before. You must always try to make it appear as if everything is going just fine — admitting problems will put the final nail in your business' coffin.

Try a Voluntary Agreement

If your creditors are ready to start knocking on your door, it’s best that you try to get a voluntary agreement with them before you ever consider declaring bankruptcy. This is when you negotiate your debts down to a lower level using the threat of bankruptcy, and your creditors sign an agreement with you to say they’ll leave you alone once you've paid that money.

The Absolute Last Resort

I simply can’t get across to you how much you should not consider bankruptcy as a viable option — ever — unless you’re absolutely forced into it. Consider it the same as suicide — the absolute last resort. Would you commit suicide because your business was going badly? I hope you answered no — which means you shouldn't consider bankruptcy either.

Having a bankruptcy on your credit record will stay with you for a long time and will affect everything you do: your credit rating, your employment history, and even in the way you think of yourself every day. It's better to have everything wrestled from your hands than to give it up voluntarily — otherwise you'll torture yourself wondering what would have happened if you'd kept going just a little longer.

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The fastest-growing segment of today's economy is the home business, but "firing your boss" is not as easy as some would have you believe.

To succeed — and you can succeed — you will need help.

Whether you want to start an online web business, an offline mail order business or even a local service business, the valuable information in your copy of The Home Business Startup Guide will help you to get started.

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