Running a small business is hard work. Cash flow is tight; time is in short supply. When there’s just not enough in the bank to cover payroll, the easiest loan in town is from the Bank of Uncle Sam. There’s no application, no review, no waiting. You just give employees their checks, net of […]
Who Owns Your Business When You File Bankruptcy?
The bankruptcy trustee’s question was straightforward (if inartful) yet the business owner nearly blew the answer. The trustee asked: are you the sole owner of your business? When my client hesitated, she followed up: are you a sole proprietor? Focusing on the fact that he was the only person with an interest in the business, […]
Myth Of The Corporate Credit Card
As far as myths go, the myth of the business credit card ranks right up there with unicorns, Big Foot, and leprechauns . Every struggling small business owner who crosses the threshold of my office believes that his corporate credit card is not a personal debt. Wrong. In 39 years of bankruptcy practice, I have never seen […]
SBA Loans Collectible Long Past Business Failure
The SBA has eagle eyes and sharp talons when it comes to collecting from guarantors of business loans. SBA collection tools are ruthless, efficient and ageless. So I learned when a client consulted me about a business that had failed 12 years ago. Yet the SBA had never sued him, nor had it filed […]
Incorporating Your Business Has Surprise Benefit
Incorporate to protect yourself from the debts of your business, shriek the ads. That’s the theory of incorporation: create a separate legal entity in the form of the corporation. Let that entity incur debt and expose itself to other risks. If it fails, the personal holdings of the owners of the corporation are safe. But, […]
What Small Business Needs From Government
This post was first published 10 years ago, in the midst of the Great Recession. I continue to think about the real challenges of running a small business and the balance needed between simplicity for the business owner and protections for the public. More below. Senator McCain this morning on Meet the Press reprised […]
Sign Your Corporation’s Name So You Aren’t On The Hook
John Hancock knew how to sign his name- so large that King George could read it without his glasses. But most small business folks who do business as a corporation are clueless when it comes to signing contracts on behalf of their corporation. When they sign their name, without more, on the line that says […]
Silicon Valley Horror Story: The Business Credit Card That Bit
I’ve long said that there is no credit card for which a real, live human being isn’t liable. (That may be an exaggeration, but not by much.) And I’ve long worried about the prospects for success of business startups financed on credit cards. But I’ve never seen a departing employee of a start up stuck […]
5 Small Business Mistakes That Thwart Success
In recognition of National Small Business Week, we look at what a bankruptcy lawyer knows about business. Everyone tells you what to do to succeed in business; you also need to know what not to do if you don’t want to fail. Running your own business is the classic American dream. It’s romantic and heroic. […]
Know who you are when the business files bankruptcy
While knowing who you are may be central to philosophy and mental health, you wouldn’t think it poses a difficult question in a business bankruptcy. You wouldn’t think the word “you” would be so challenging. Yet, small business owners find it hard to separate themselves from the business, even when that business is incorporated. […]
