Running your own business is a dream for many people have. The enjoyment of working for yourself and being your own boss is hard to beat. However, in these tough economic times, it can also be quite a challenge. Unlike when you work for someone else, if there isn’t enough money coming in, and the debts are building up, it’s down to you to do something about it.
The simplest way to manage your business debts is to either increase the amount of money coming into the business, or reduce the amount of money that’s leaving it. You, or you business, may be entitled to certain benefits, tax credits, or grants that you aren’t already claiming, and these could help to reduce or pay off your business debts. Alternatively, you can look to reduce your costs, either by cutting back, or coming to an arrangement with your creditors about your debts.
Most businesses will find that they have priority debts and secondary debts. You should deal with all your business debts, but priority debts are the most important and should be dealt with first. These are debts like rent, business rates, and taxes, where there could be severe consequences if they are not paid. You may be evicted, have your power cut off, even sent to prison. Secondary debts are to creditors who don’t have the same ability to recover their money, such as credit card companies and unsecured loans.
You can make arrangements to repay your business debts in two ways. If your debt problem is only a short term situation, due to a temporary cash flow problem, many creditors will come to an informal arrangement with you to repay the debt. If the problem is more serious, and likely to take longer to resolve, a formal Company Voluntary Arrangement may be a better option for both you and creditors, and make your business debts more manageable while you work to pay them off.
If you can’t keep up your debt repayments, your company may become insolvent. Going into administration will afford you some protection and allow you to keep trading, while a way to repay your debts is found. If this still doesn’t resolve your business debt problem, liquidating the company, or going into receivership, will sell the assets belonging to the company in order to pay off as much of your debts as possible.
If you are finding that running your own business isn’t what you thought it would be, and your debts are becoming an issue, it’s important to get advice as soon as possible. Speak to someone who is qualified to help resolve issues with business debts – your bank manager might be a good place to start, or contact your local Business Link for more advice.
Learn More : Business Debt Advice
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