Margins are being pinched and debt remains what it was when things were much, much better… and it’s choking the life out of your business. This is personal. It results in the destruction of not only business enterprise, but also of families.
The banks consider it just a matter of numbers. They are not concerned about the effect foreclosure will have on you, your family and the families of your employees. It is of no importance, or even relevance, to them and thus they are not listening or paying attention at all to the plight you all find yourselves trapped in.
Is it important? Does anyone care? Is anyone interested in what is happening to small business owners trapped in this recession? Not the banks, that’s for certain, but we are listening, we care and to us, it is important, very important. We understand that this is not just about numbers, it is about jobs and your family’s survival. Your family, and the families of the employees who are counting on you to provide them with a job to survive this difficult time. Everyone knows that when one loses a job in this economy replacing it can take a year or more, or forever, as many, many jobs will not return, ever.
Why do we care? Why are we interested? What good does it do for us to understand the situation if it is not relevant to the bankers or SBA?
A few reasons:
1) We are all people working our hardest, doing our best and fighting the same battles, mostly alone. We understand how lonely that gets and it is important for everyone to have an opportunity to explain what is happening to them and to get some inside advice. Frequently, the issues are far more complex than simply dealing with debt. Frequently, it is also about downsizing, reinventing yourself, figuring out how to not only survive, but also to prosper in this down economy.
We have a deep understanding about how to accomplish this and when we listen to our prospects or clients we are always listening with an inclination to help the small business owner overcome adversity, make right decisions and successfully navigate the turmoil they are confronting. It is not just about debt, it is about helping them overcome the issues causing them difficulty, helping them to restructure, adjust, downsize, and emerge, in addition to doing the debt workouts. Why do we do this? Because we understand what is at risk and what the real cost of failure is to everyone involved in your business and their families. We understand it’s not solved by debt workouts alone—it is about making systemic business changes to meet the needs of the transition.
2) We also understand that a small business owner in distress needs to vent and let it out. You need to talk to someone who listens, pays attention and supports. It is important—we all need this and we provide this whenever possible.
3) If we know what has happened to you we can include the important issues in our presentation to the bank. It may not be relevant to the workout but it is relevant to the listener as we are all mostly the same. We all have feelings and most have families. In conversation, without whining or complaining, if we can make the workout more personal and more about the individual, we can get some additional traction in the workout. It’s human nature to care and understand if information is appropriately presented. We can do this, the borrower in default cannot. It is important to make the workout personal to the banker in charge as when we succeed at doing this the results are better, often much better.
Thus, we listen very carefully and want to hear what has happened and what is at risk so that we can help direct you more effectively. We can give you the opportunity to safely vent and explain, and we can support your workout with the banker by making it more personal.
This works, we do it. Call us at 413-584-2581 and tell us your story. Let us help you succeed. Norm will arrange a no-obligation teleconference for us to discuss your issues and provide you with solutions… and listen to your story. It is important and relevant.
