Page 23 - How To Avoid Going Bust In Business

Now for the real work

One way of looking at your present situation is that you have taken just the first three
steps on a long and arduous journey.

Now for some thoughts on where to from here.

4: Share the problem with your spouse or partner

They will have to help the haul here. They need to understand the issues and to
know that you are taking a positive approach to resolving them.

A lawyer of my acquaintance got into financial difficulties. He lost a couple of very
big clients and as a result his income was decimated. He and his wife and family
were accustomed to the good life. The kids went to private schools, they ate at good
restaurants, enjoyed fine wine, took a skiing holidays, had a week on the beach in
Fiji during the winter, did their Christmas shopping in London. The whole nine
beautiful yards.

When the cash dried up he didn’t have the heart to tell his wife that the children
would have to leave the posh school – it would have been so terribly, terribly
embarrassing for one having to explain that to one’s friends.

Believe me, what happened next was a great deal more embarrassing.

To cover the shortfall he started “borrowing” from the clients’ accounts. That’s an
idea that never ends well.

He was later arrested, convicted of theft as a servant and went to jail for several
years.

Now that’s really embarrassing.

So it is now time to sit your spouse or partner down and say “We need to talk. . . “

Tell them the truth. The whole truth.

Tell them how you plan to solve the problem. Ask for their help.

5: Crash dive the family spending

Here’s the bad news: The days of wine and roses are over for the time being. To
have any chance of getting through the next few months it is imperative that you cut
out every unnecessary expenditure.

Sometimes that’s all it takes. If you are losing money at the rate of $10,000 a month
after paying yourself a $200,000 a year salary, cut the pay-packet back to $80,000