Panic! Sole trader in debt-advice please

whatatwit

Hi Fabianne, I have just caught up on what's been happening today.
I think you are taking really positive steps to sort this out.

Whatever happens, you still have your hands (tools of your trade) and your skills and reputation. You will bounce back.

Good luck, and it's a shame I'm about 40 miles away, or I would be visiting you for my next haircut.

MasterBell_2

anything that you own, that was not purchased as part of a repair or renewal (may state in the least that you have to do these) take them the you can sell anythink on ebay,
can you negotiate with your supplier on the rrp that you want to wholesale these items then say sell them to your other half,
surely they cant FORCE you to sell at RRP and tbh they would never know,
if the margin is good enough for you i would sell these on ebay to start get some more money flowing.

I had the same problem with orange, them telling me i couldnt sell mobiles i had purchased but spoke to a solicitor and they said thats rubbish..

freebird65

Evening! Just catching up and I have to say you're doing a fab job in getting organised! :T :T :T You'll soon be back up to speed and running from home. Shame you're in Manchester - I'm desperate for a haircut & highlights!!

Keep those lights - my sparky boyfriends says you'll sell them no problem and get plenty for them.

Re your ebay competition.....I may upset some people by saying this and sorry, but......I think it may be a little unfair to report your competitors unless you know they are doing something wrong. They may have bought their stock from a bankrupt sale or something and unless it's illegal to sell the brand on ebay (which it can't be as you are) or for less than RRP (possible) then they are doing nothing wrong.

Also.....and apologies if this is a bit naughty......your supplier insists you sell at RRP....but do they check every sale? Can you not set up an alternate ID and sell below RRP, but at a figure that still makes you money? And if it's TIGI, I'll buy from you!!!! OOOoohhh can you get that fantastic GHD travel kit???? Stop it freebird!

Keep at it fabianne - there is light at the end of the tunnel, and you've taken the biggest step towards sorting out your problems...facing up to them. We're all silently cheering you on from afar!

bky_cpl

Jane-hi and thanks-the Payplan woman suggested it and when my reaction was "Erm,ah..." she asked why not and was it the fact it would get published?I didn't even know it got published and don't care about that aspect(does anyone read that bit in the paper btw?I don't)
Once she told me that my family and b/f would not be affected by it in the future,it was better,so am thinking of it now-I just need more info on it all.
Did you find it very stressful and is there tons of paperwork to do?I am basically frightened by it all.[/QUOTE]

Hi fabianne,

The thought of the whole situation and actually facing the fact that we were in such a hopeless situation was far more frightening than actually realisng that we had been made bankrupt. For one thing, the incessant phone calls virtually stopped over night and when any "snotty" little freak rang up from a debt collection agency or solicitors all we had to do was quote the bankruptcy number and the local county court and they were on their way.

Your situation doesn't seem as bad as ours though and I think that if you can agree something with your landlord then your other creditors won't be a problem, if you approach them through CCCS or one of the other charities.

I'm starting to ramble a bit now so you'll have to excuse the bad spelling and grammar. There is quite a lot of paperwork and I was fortunate in that my O.H did all the preperation but to be honest it wasn't something that I wouldn'thave been able to do if I'd had to. You can just take all correspondence and alll your statemnts and let the official receiver do the rest.

Another thing is that we didn't have to make ourselves bankrupt so we didn't have to raise the money to do it which is quite expensive. I am so happy now that the obnoxious arrogant little p***k that we dealt with at the landlords has wasted a coule of thousand pounds in legal fees and they'll see absolutely nothing from our bankruptcy. I had a very close friend who was desperate not to see me go bust and she offered to pay up to £3,000 if the landlord would let me off the hook and he refused, I don't want to sound vindictive but "ha ha bl**dy ha ha, we worked so hard at that business and invested a fortune in the premise and they wouldn't give us an inch of leeway.

My advice would be to do everything you can to avoid going bankrupt cos it does cause problems but don't make yourself hard up and miserable by trying to repay your debts through an IVA or whatever.

I wasn't brought up to take the responsibility of incurring debt lightly but I am absolutely convinced that the existing approach to banking by the big financial institutions is nothing short of scandalous. My view, for what it's worth is that all the time they know that you have a house that they may be able to reposses or that you're that ashamed by the prospect of defaulting on a debt then they'll overwhelm you with offers of cash until things start to go wrong.

We're in our mid forties now and we've lost our house, our savings and every damn thing, it's like starting out all over again apart from the fact that we're not twenty years old any more. I'm not feeling sorry for myself we've had some fantastic fun, especially when things were going well, and now we're both working and earning a reasonable income, we've managed to rent a decent property and my only real regret is that we didn't owe the b******s £250million instead of £250K. It really does make me so angry to see the results on sites like this of such a cynical, indiscrimiante approach to people's lives.

Wow, that feels better.

On a more serious note, if there's anything you'd like to know from a woman that's been there then please don't hesitate to contact me.

Jane x

Richard_S

Jane,

Couldn't agree more, - pleased you didn't owe me money. You should take a look at the Bankruptcy members thread, sounds as though you have a lot to offer.

Rich

fabianne

Thanks so much for your replies,guys!
Just got off the phone to the mate I was convinced was dottyanne this morning-hey girl!!-your twin is alive and well and living a parallel life in deepest Lancs.

I have a lot of reading and research to do about the bankruptcy thing.From the calculations she did,I don't think I will be eligible for an IVA as I am in deficit from my outgoings and know you need some disposable income to offer them to pay off the long term plan?
One thing I picked up on a thread was "they took my laptop away"..now,the Payplan lady asked me about computers in the house.My laptop was a gift from my B/F and he built the kids machines-can they take these away?(Is this to stop me accessing fab sites like this for more info on financial disaster-or is the paranoia getting to me..lol?)I would want to keep the machines,especially mine as I sell a lot of my own stuff on eBay too,as extra income?The kids would be gutted as they use theirs a lot for homework.
I sell Redken but used to sell Tigi Bedhead,I can have a look at the wholesaler who sells GHD's to see if they have the gift packs too next week?I have already thought "Dog eat Dog" time and started to undersell my competitors by 5p!They are flouting their contract(Redken choose you not you choose them btw)...so can I!!That's business.

fabianne

What else can they take from your home as assets?
Have read the Bankruptcy guide from the Insolvency Service to tonight that the BDL sent me and this not clear?
I am being sent info about setting up an informal arrangement-is this the best course-am I right in thinking this way,my creditors could still make me bankrupt? The advisor said offer token payments of £1 as that is all I can afford-is this right?Even to the Landlord-I think I need to clarify this(she spoke faster than I could scribble)
I am getting in a tizz now as I don't know what to do first? I need a plan of action:
1.Cease trading/inform clients/redirect mail/redirect phone/take meter readings ***SHOULD I STILL PAY THE INSURANCE FOR THE PREMISES IN CASE OF A BREAK IN???***SHOULD I WHITE WASH THE WINDOWS??****
2.Clear out shop and inform landlord that I have ceased trading.Try to work out issues concerning the lease and negotiate terms for remainder of lease and arrears-including damage compensation and refurbishment of salon costs?**WHEN DO I HAND BACK HIS KEYS TO PREMISES??**
3.Set up home asap and get working again (buy more tea bags and coffee)
4.Sell salon stuff on eBay to recoup initial purchases and pay off some debts
5.Make some money to live and pay bills and debts(I like this bit)
6.Make sure new bank account is up and running ok
7.Change business banking to better one (on the case at the mo with that and waiting to hear)
8. Write to creditors with informal arrangement and change of address details
9. Cross fingers
10.Breathe

Any input appreciated as a battle plan please in case I forget.

fabianne

Update-
The last few days have been a blur.Bonkers busy at work,plans being put to me by staff and a whole load of brain whirring.

I has said I would shut up the salon last night-but the 2 girls who work for me want to speak to me about staying on,at first they asked if they could take over the lease from me,pay me for fittings and fixtures and I would rent space off them to work from.The landlord want's my rent arrears up front before he will assign the lease but was willing to do so. The girls could not raise this amount quickly and then decided that a business would be too much responsibilty for them and pulled out completely.-Then they asked if we could work out a plan out where they pay me more rent.I would put up my charges and it might see us through beyond Xmas and the end of the lease.
My B/F is not happy as he wants me to cease trading-but I will still have the salon rent to pay if I work from home plus all my debts.
The paperwork from Payplan has not arrived and I am more confused than ever!They suggested bankruptcy as I do not have surplus income for an IVA.But it is so scary!
I keep holding out to see if I get my new business account accepted/bank charges refund/United Utilities refund as I will be gutted if these come through and I have left my salon.

Can anyone who has followed this thread

fabianne

..ooopssss....offer any advice as I cannot think clearly and I have people booked in on Tuesday

rog2

fabianne wrote:

..ooopssss....offer any advice as I cannot think clearly and I have people booked in on Tuesday

Hold on a minute Fabiane - whilst I think that your intentions towards the 2 girls are admirable, you could, in effect, just be prolonging your own agony.
There is no guarantee that things will improve, by carrying on till Christmas and you can only increase your prices by what the market will stand.
I think that the advice, from PAYPLAN, is probably the best given your situation, and I understand that you feel totally confused at the moment, but it will become clearer.
I think that my own biggest mistake was 'holding on' in the hope that things would improve.
Could you look after your Tuesday bookings from home? If so, all you need do is phone them on Monday and tell them to come to your house - not the shop.