Hi, Please can anyone help? SOA and current situation

RAS

rhubarbarella wrote: »

ah, wish I had seen this before I went and started a thread on the br boards. Am bracing myself for some nasty trolls now .
I feel like my brain is swimming in all the new info I have had to take in this last week and a bit. Wouldn't it be lovely to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow and find it was all a bad dream?

You may be fine. Just report any trolls.

Most of the time it is OK but every so often a real !!!!!! wrecks havoc. Bank Holiday weekends seem to be worst.

clairehi

Hi there, I dont usually post on this board but your post caught my eye.

I am worried that your partner has still not seen a doctor. if he deteriorates over the weekend you must call the out of hours gp service and tell them he is suicidal.

Otherwise, get on the phone again first thing monday morning and tell the receptionist he is suicidal and needs an emergency appointment. if she refuses then ask to speak to the practice manager and make a complaint.

when you have done this, looking ahead you need a separate business SOA, and more than that you need a business plan. have the business enterprise people (what is the name of the organisation?) offered any help with this. you need to work out how many clients/appointments he needs to break even and to generate enough income to support you both. without this information you cant make an informed decision about whethe to press on with the business. you also need legal advice on the property lease - what would happen in the event of you defaulting.

also what did he spend the business loan money on? are there any assets of the business?

ps I would also keep on at your utility company regarding the gas meter, as if there has been a fault with the meter gonig back several years then there is a chance you are due a big repayment which could really help.

rhubarbarella

clairehi wrote: »

Hi there, I dont usually post on this board but your post caught my eye.

I am worried that your partner has still not seen a doctor. if he deteriorates over the weekend you must call the out of hours gp service and tell them he is suicidal.

Otherwise, get on the phone again first thing monday morning and tell the receptionist he is suicidal and needs an emergency appointment. if she refuses then ask to speak to the practice manager and make a complaint.

when you have done this, looking ahead you need a separate business SOA, and more than that you need a business plan. have the business enterprise people (what is the name of the organisation?) offered any help with this. you need to work out how many clients/appointments he needs to break even and to generate enough income to support you both. without this information you cant make an informed decision about whethe to press on with the business. you also need legal advice on the property lease - what would happen in the event of you defaulting.

also what did he spend the business loan money on? are there any assets of the business?

ps I would also keep on at your utility company regarding the gas meter, as if there has been a fault with the meter gonig back several years then there is a chance you are due a big repayment which could really help.

Hi,

I am still worried about his mental health situation, he scared the sh*t out of me today because I went down to the shop, leaving him at home, and he phoned me a couple of hours later, he had gone out in the car, got in a state, pulled up in an industrial estate somewhere freaking out, and I was terrifed, he told me he didn't want to go on, he wanted to end it...it was terrible. I stayed on the phone for ages and told hom to put classic FM on or some dance music (basically anything but talk radio) and when he fel calmer to drive home. I elt like my heart was trying to vomit out of my mouth.
When I came home he was here, in a bad way but here.
His GP appt is on Monday morning. I shall go with him and I shall also tell the GP how unimpressed I am with the way the reception people have dealt with this situation. I seem to be getting by on adrenalin, lucozade and coffee at the moment. I would not be suprised if my hair fell out or something to be honest.

Woth regards the business - the loan was a personal loan, used to pay the legal fees for setting up the lease, equipment and start up stuff, the shop-fit, advertising etc etc.
With regards business plan - the business plan we did prior to him starting the business when we did all the market research still is accurate in everything except the numbers of paying customers - the projected expenses, overheads, running costs, living expenses etc are all correct to within £20 of what I had anticipated/month. Its just that the projections for paying customers, based on market research and similar business models on other areas have proved to be wrong. If we had just 5 customers/week for our standard treatments it would be enough to keep things ticking over just about, with the disability benefit I get added to it. When I did the projections I anticipated it would be a slow start, the things that have caused our downfall were being delayed 2 months in opening due to legal issues, the austerity cuts announced shortly before opening, the dismal december which has left so many small business struggling...If I ever do this again we will only consider opening in the spring/summer. Had we opened when originally planned then we would have had 2 months worth of savings extra to live off if that makes sense.
On the plus side we have had a few customers this last 2 weeks. Well, I say a few, I mean 3. Nowhere near enough. Previously he had signed a contract to advertise in a local newspaper in 3 editions over 3 months. As that had been partially paid for already I have contacted the publication and changed the ad for the last edition to slash the prices in the hopes of getting more people through the door.

Maybe I am delusional but I still believe this could and should work and that it is the timing that has worked against us. But I feel torn, like on the one hand, am I just being delusional, overly optimistic and should accept we are failures, or should I maintain that given time it will work?

I just feel lost now in a maze of stress and self doubt.

What a mess we have made for ourselves.

[Deleted User]

Like what others have said, you need to separate personal finance from business.

I will make comments on personal - I know nothing about business. Ensure your partner speaks to someone about the business debt (Business Debtline on 0800 197 6026 -this is free confidential advice)

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Benefits................................ 730
Total monthly income.................... 730

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 650
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 202 (is this personal or business? And can you get out of it?)
Rent.................................... 815 (remove this from your SOA as it's business debt, and not personal debt)
Council tax............................. 89 (Are you paying over 10 months, if so see if you can spread over 12)
Electricity............................. 43 (this is high - check comparison sites and if cheaper elsewhere switch via a cashback site if available (quidco, topcashback, onepoll etc) Often online, duel fuel tariffs are cheaper
Gas..................................... 189 (this really is extortionate - do you have the heating on full 24/7? Is there a problem with the meter? or system? Only have on in rooms you are in etc - and check that you are not massivly in credit with this company[if you are claim it back])
Water rates............................. 50 (are you on a meter? if not, would a meter work out cheaper?)
Telephone (land line)................... 14.99
Mobile phone............................ 76 (can you reduce)
TV Licence.............................. 12 (cancel if you no longer have a TV)
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 33 (remove TV from the package if you no longer have TV, you are paying your phone seperately, is all this for internet? If so switch)
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 (this can go down easily - check the old style board for cheap and healthy meals, I am sure that some of them will be friendly to your dietary requirements)
Petrol/diesel........................... 30 (is it worth having a car if you use it this little?)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 28 (If you are on many prescriptions then you may be cheaper to get a pre-paid certificate - hopefully someone who know better can advise better)
Buildings insurance..................... 45 (If this is all domestic then check comarison sites for cheaper)
Contents insurance...................... 0 (is this included above?)
Other insurance......................... 25 (this is business?)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 300 (if this is over the year divide by 12=25, but even this is high given the situation, perhapse reduce to 10)
Haircuts................................ 0 (never?)
Entertainment........................... 200 (this can be massivly reduced - you just cannot afford it right now)
pets.................................... 40 (what does this cover? Is food not included in your grocery shop?)
other business expenses (sole trader)... 250 (this is business, keep it seperate)
Total monthly expenses.................. 3391.99


Assets
House value (Gross)..................... 160000
Total Assets............................ 160000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 139800...(650)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 7000.....(202)......0 This is the car? Or smething else? How long until you can get out of this contract?
Total secured & HP debts...... 146800....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
personal loan .................18500.....320.......0 (you need to know what the APR's are here - also is this business or personal?)
credit card....................5000......72........0 (as above)
Total unsecured debts..........23500.....392.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 730
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,391.99
Available for debt repayments........... -2,661.99
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 392
Amount short for making debt repayments. -3,053.99

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 160,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -146,800
Total Unsecured debt.................... -23,500
Net Assets.............................. -10,300

Hi, I have left some comments for you. I hope that some of them are useful. It seems that you are in a very stressful situation, but you are doing the right thing and dealing with it now - before things get worse.

I cannot recommend enough for you and your OH to go and see a professional. Go to one of the charities (CCCS, CAB, national debt line) and they will be able to give you professional, confidential and advice tailored to your situation.

Good luck

Superbiatch

I was the person to persuade my brother to go to the doctors when he was ill, he insisted i go into the doctors room with him where i went into details about my brothers mental health - to which the GP basically told me to be quiet and let my brother speak, I'm so glad he did as he was taken seriously then.

The point of this post is this might happen in your OH's case, so be warned. You need him to be honest as well, not just say "everything is fine" and he needs to basically tell the GP how he has been feeling including disclosing his thoughts of suicide and his obvious feelings of uselessness and worthlessness - obvious signs of mental illness. Prompt him if necessary, his memory might not be to his usual standard.

The sooner his mental health is back on an even keel, the sooner you can start to deal with the other stuff. And don't be ashamed of your OH's health, you'd surprised how many people are on anti-depressants or diagnosed with a MH condition Stress gets to everyone in the end!

Good luck xx

Tuesday_Tenor

Well done on getting to grips with so many things to try to improve your situation.

Hope your bf is OK over the weekend and you get a helpful visit to the GP on Monday.

I'm glad the landlord is so supportive and happy for you to sub-let.
As soon as the health of each of you allows, then I think you should make sub-letting rooms or treatment sessions the main focus of your business, particularly while you build up your own clientele, which may take some time.

Two things about the business struck me as I read through your posts:

1) >>>> the line of business is beauty treatments, namely permanent make up and tattoo removal

Presumably the two main items are basically 'one-offs' that people have done once, so no regular customers. This is worrying as most beauty and fitness businesses rely on regular, returning customers. In your case you'll need a constant stream of new customers, which will mean ongoing expenses on publicity to reach the potential market. And I don't know of hordes of people needing either permanent make-up or tattoo removal ... (Personally I don't know ANY ...)


2) >>>>>> He looks terrible, it is scary. He is skinny anyway, he is like a skeleton now it is shocking. He looks like he has just escaped a prisoner of war camp or something.

This won't help at all. You are in the 'appearance' business. Would you want to go for a beauty or fitness treatment from someone who looks like this or someone who is obviously ill? I wouldn't.

That's why, until he's really better, and LOOKS better, I think you'll need to concencentrate on the sub-letting.

All the best for getting him well, fed and back in control again. You sound like a loving and supportive partner and I hope you come through this together stronger and happier.

chevalier

Hi there
well done on making a start. sometimes just starting is the hardest thing!

thanks for the info about the website. it looks like you have done everything I could think of alreaday..

ref someone pming you about looking at the website, I would look at how long they have been a member, how many posts they have made and how often they have been thanked. If it is a long time, many posts and lots of thanks, then I would probably take a chance and tell them. If they are a new joiner and have no history then probably not.

You can do a search on a members name to see what posts they have made, so that might give you a bit more confidence.
chev

rhubarbarella

As requested I have done a statement of affairs that excludes all the business expenses (even though I thought as a sole trader my OH and the business were classed as one entity? forgive me, my brain is really starting to struggle).
Anyway, I have updated some of the figures, eg to take into account the small income for this month, and some other costs I have managed to reduce. Hope this helps you make sense of it all a bit. Obviously, the business costs are still there, just not shown on this SOA.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 500 - Updated to show January income
Benefits................................ 730 - mine, health and disability related
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1230

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 650 - payment due in a couple of days, then I am requesting either to switch to interest only or payment holiday
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 202 - this is for the car, its a just add fuel deal so includes tax, service, mot, insurance etc. cannot terminate as only started in sept last year
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 89 - will be lowered if we are entitled to any income support, I applied last week. Not sure if we eligible
Electricity............................. 43 - going to check our usage, this is the direct debit
Gas..................................... 189 - we only have it on a few hours a day, need this checking, but british gas aid I have to pay £62 to have my meter checked, so if it is not faulty this will be another expense
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35 - I got the wrong figure before, this one is correct
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 24 - we cancelled my OHs phone, this is mine, still under contract
TV Licence.............................. 12 - so we can still watch stuff online
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 33 - this is phone, broadband and TV - they won't let us reduce it as it is under contract apparently
Internet Services....................... 0 - see above
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 - have reduced this figure
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 30 - need car to get to business
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 - now got a prepay for me, paid for by my mum
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 45 - combined building and contents. Going to look for a cheaper deal when my head is working
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 - people will have to do without!
Haircuts................................ 0 - really, none. I have hardly any hair still and OH can wear his smart hat for now!
Entertainment........................... 80 - this is cigarettes, reduced massively, and swithced to rollies. Can't go without at present, but have cut back lots
Holiday................................. 0 - I remember that word, but forgotten its meaning
Emergency fund.......................... 0
pets.................................... 30 - cat food, de flea, de worm etc. Cats rescue cats, kidney probs, special diet. Found slightly cheaper stockist
Total monthly expenses.................. 1712


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 160000 - this was what we paid, not entirely sure of present value
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 160000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 139800...(650)......0 - on tracker at 1.14% above BofE baserate
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 7000.....(202)......0 - car. almost 3 years left on agreement
Total secured & HP debts...... 146800....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................5000......72........0 - partners CC
personal loan..................18500.....320.......0 - partners loan. Personal loan, used for business start up
Total unsecured debts..........23500.....392.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,230
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,712
Available for debt repayments........... -482
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 392
Amount short for making debt repayments. -874

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 160,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -146,800
Total Unsecured debt.................... -23,500
Net Assets.............................. -10,300

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Hope that helps people. Obviously theres still all the costs for business but theyre not shown on here

confused76

hi there
i just popped over to wish you and OH good luck at the doctors tomorrow....i find making a list of symptoms a big help beforehand then if you get flustered it's there in front of you.

i'm not too great with SOAs but if bankruptcy was the route you took then there are certain things you are paying out now that could go into the br - eg gas and elec arrears, phone package, car agreement (they may well want the car back anyway, whose name is this in?)

anyhoo, thinking of you tomorrow xxx

greenhill

Snugglebunny8 wrote: »

wow!! Go You! :T you have done brilliantly to get your teeth into all those issues, and really taken control, thats absolutely amazing, am so happy to see what you have been able to do, keep us posted!

I cant think of any suggestions, think you've really done fantastically xxxxx

I agree.........you're amazing. Well done Sweetheart :j