You Must Do More Than Just Workout Your Debt.

There is a huge misconception going around: It is enough to merely strip off the debt and free you to return to the same old policies and way of doing business. After all, your business is now debt-free and that has resolved the default issue and removed a huge monthly payout, creating more cash to work with, so your business is now capable of running in the black and is ready to rock and roll.

No, No, No! This must be addressed and cleared up.

The real issue is that things have changed. The economy has changed, the customers’ buying habits have changed. This must be considered and adjustments must be made if one is to succeed, even if the debt was stripped off the business freeing cash for operations.

I call it the four pillars:

1. Downsize and tighten up your business.

2. Reinvent your business.

3. Do your debt workouts.

4. Learn to market through the Internet, utilizing social networks, etc.

Debt workout is one of the four pillars, but just one. The other three are just as important. Neglecting the others is a huge error as debt relief alone is not enough. Yes, it frees cash and removes a serious expense, increases your equity and removes you from harms way via foreclosure and liquidation, all critical to survival, but, without the other three components, you are still doing the same things that got you into trouble in the first place. You must make the required changes to truly level the playing field and adjust to the new economy or you will be right back in the same situation but without default, merely ineffective operations, no profit and no reason to continue.

This is not a speed bump in the road of development. The economy and its consumers have permanently changed. Get on the same program and succeed. Failure to recognize these issues and resolve them is just as fatal as default. You will get liquidated, one way or another, if you fail to address the other three pillars holding successful businesses up in this changed economy.