Exactly what will happen to your home if your business closes this month? Are you certain of that? And exactly what will happen to your furniture, and your investments? And exactly what will happen to the assets your business has acquired over time? And exactly how will you get an income next month if your business closes this month? Exactly how will you open a bank account after that first judgment has landed? I ask these questions because they echo my feelings in May 1992 as I closed Link Technologies cc - the single act that thrust me on this new career path where I now teach folk exactly what will happen. Except that I didn't know that at the time! And before it happened I reckoned I more or less had these answers.

But I was a long way off. I didn't know how the game was played - how the assets of the firm get given away for nothing; and how my furniture would be sold for the costs of their removal; and how everybody I had ever bought from would be allowed to take a judgment against me without me being able to defend myself. Judgments which ranged from R241-00 to R640 000-00! And I didn't even begin to understand the soft issues: not sleeping because I had a wife and children to feed; not wanting to see my friends because they didn't understand my challenges; not wanting to speak to my family; not wanting to work because the challenges were insurmountable.

We're now exactly 10 years later and most folk I talk to cannot conceive that their business might actually close - because they feel that they're not that stupid. But lots of businesses close every day [although it's usually more crowded at the end of the month]. And they usually close because something outside the business happens: a strike; a change in tax law; a change in customs law; a change in the Rand forex rate; a fire; a death...

Which is why I need to ask you a few questions to which I don't have answers, but I'm hoping you do. You see, as of today, I've given up trying to help people who are going out of business. It's harrowing. It's frightening and it brings back all the old memories that I am happy to have moved beyond. And by the time you need going out of business help you've run out of money. Which means that you can't pay for good help. I know this because that's been my experience. When you're going out of business you need more help and support than anyone can offer - except maybe your church group. And free advice isn't worth the money you pay for it. So here are a few questions to help you NOT go out of business.

What exactly will you do if your biggest client goes belly up? How will it happen? Will their last cheque bounce? Will they just avoid your calls? When, exactly, will they tell you the bad news?

What exactly will you do if your business overdraft is recalled this month? How will it happen? Will you get a call asking you to visit, or will the phone call just tell you that one of your deposits has bounced, and therefore your outgoing cheques will also be dishonoured? Will that call be from your brand new bank manager [who took office today, or from the person who has been supporting you these past few years? What exactly will be your response? Which bank will you go to immediately to replace your overdraft?

What exactly will happen to your business if you die this weekend? Who will open the office on Monday? Exactly how will your spouse get access to money while your estate winds up? Exactly who will pay the landlord, and deflect the judgment for outstanding rentals? Exactly who will deflect the judgments that come in from everybody your business owes money to?

What exactly will you do if your office/factory burns down this weekend and the insurance won't pay because your bank bounced the short term premium today? Or, exactly what will you do if the insurance company delays their payment by 3 months because they're 'investigating'? How exactly will you continue to operate; to pay your staff; to put food on the table; to pay the school fees; to pay the bakkie installments?

Business planning is an interesting paradox. The more you plan for a disaster, the less likely it is to happen. Yet most of us simply lurch from crisis to crisis - too busy to plan, and too busy to succeed! I have compressed 10 years worth of crisis planning into a simple 4 hour seminar called CrashProof your Business. Think of it as an advanced driving school for business owners. If you follow these simple principles you won't ever go out of business. And if you still choose to go out of business you will have exact answers for the above questions.

© Peter Carruthers, www.petesweekly.co.za

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