I can't bear this..

[purpleperson]

Thank you for your replies everyone. I have alot of respect for what some of you have been through and are still going through, and now you're here giving me advice, that's really wonderful.

 

Misscynical, I think I might be eligible for tax credits, my partner too, I'm going to contact whoever it is I need to contact on Monday about it. And council tax benefit too. When I got the letter from the council about the arrears I called them and said I couldn't afford to pay, and they sent me the benefit pack. I need to contact them and find out exactly what information they need about my business accounts etc so I can get it all together. And the big phone call on Monday too, I'm going to phone my business bank manager and ask him to remove the charges they have given me this week.

 

The situation right now is that the charges I have had this week are about the same, if not a little more, than my weeks takings. That is a surefire way to kill my business! I haven't paid the cash into the bank as I usually would because it would just disappear with these charges, and I need it for petrol and to pay for the postage for my mail orders.

 

Misscynical, good luck with your bankrupcy proceedings. I hope you won't lose your house. I don't know much about bankrupcy at the moment, but they can't make you homeless can they?

 

nuthatch, thank you. My other half is always trying to get me to relax. I had another stress when I got home from work today, after opening the post of course, which is becoming a regular occurence. He told me that there is nothing I can do until Monday morning so I need to try to forget about it until then. I'm going to try. I spent all of last weekend feeling pretty ill with a horrible stress headache, I want to try to avoid that this week, and throw myself into work instead!

 

Rachie, what a year for you. I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles, but if you can go through that then come on here and say that things are improving, then that gives hope, so thank you so much. To answer your question, I'm a sole trader.

 

x

[AA99]

Hello PP AA Here

 

Have just read through all this thread and agree with everybody 110%

 

I felt like you did this time last year, and I don't feel like that now

 

Get the basics right and the rest will whistle, ooops, I mean fall into place. There are £31 million in unclaimed benefits sitting out there - Ask and thou shalt receive

 

Stay strong and keep Cagging, you will be fine:cool:

 

ps. Get some chill pills from the GP, they're good too, my doc told me 45% of the country are on them

[Goldlady]

Well I have been taking St John's Wort for the past three years and I have to say it has helped. Started off on prescription antidepressants but started to forget to take them which I took to mean that my body was telling me to stop.

 

And then there is the red wine of course:D. Marvellous stuff.

[pdb30uk]

Hi purpleperson this is my first time on this site..Like you myself and my wife are still struggling to make ends meet but i noticed that you got refused for £1 a month nominal payments. Last January 08 we spoke to the National Debtline who were very helpful but because we didn't have £100 spare income a month for a debt management paln we had to go it alone and offer £1 a month. Fortunately the debts were for Credit cards only and we have continued to pay motgage and priority debts so no arears. It was really tough and got lots of rejection initially but we kept sending back letters with income and outgoings until we were left with Barclaycard. They point blank refused I went to CAB but because I am employed and not on benefits they couldn't help but they did advise that I contacted my MP. I was a bit dubious and gave his office a call and I have to say he was great. we explained our situation and he fired off a letter to the Chief Executive of Barclaycard this was passed to one of his secretarys and after another letter and income/expenditure form they agredd to £1 a month and refunded charges since we wrote our first letter and froze interest!!

 

We are still struggling and still fighting as we have a problem with Egg now but if we haven't got the money we can't pay them!!

 

Keep fighting

[KJD]

I'm sorry to hear of your situtation PP, but as you've gathered already, you're not alone. You've had some really good advice already, esp from Dame Bookie.

 

We run a small business as well, and I really sympathise with you. We are directly linked to the housing market so are feeling the effects now, esp as January & February are traditionally quiet months for us any way. In December we thought we'd better try and 'gather' ourselves for these lean months, and so had some leaflets / cards printed and over the last few months, whenever we've had some spare time (us or our employees), have been doing a 'leaflet drop'. We are able to target the specific properties we want to reach so a bit different to your situtation, but was just thinking you might be able to do the same? On your computer, why not design a little leaflet, say 4 to an A4 sheet, get a map which shows the houses within walking distance of your shop and then over a couple of evenings, park up in a central spot and walk along the roads, droping leaflets in to the houses / flats etc. If you make your design really bright and cheery, and may be have some sort of offer (be realistic with it - 5 or 10% off, a free something, you get the idea). It might generate some more business for you. We get calls all the time from companies offering this service, but thought why pay them to do something we can do ourselves? We've had a pretty good response so will definately be doing it again.

 

If you're not sure what to put on your leaflet, I'm sure us on CAG could come up with some ideas. Oh and be careful what you say if you are putting in an offer (eg 10% off all sales over £10.00, or you'll get people asking for 10% off 50p!)

 

Just an idea

 

Karen

[purpleperson]

Hi again,

 

Thank you for your replies. AA99 your reply made me smile

 

pdb30uk I can't believe you had to go to your MP! Glad to hear that it worked though.

 

Well, I had a pretty much sleepless night last night. I got woken about 3am by the rain, then a thought popped into my head that my car is going to break down and I won't be able to get to work. That was it then, it was a nasty chain of thoughts which had me sobbing for hours. My poor OH was wonderful with me. He did say at one point that something has to give, and he's right.

 

I called my business manager this morning for my business account to ask if he could remove the charges that have been put on in the past week. He said no. I cried down the phone at him and said that they don't care at all for small businesses. I'm an emotional wreck! I've got a little bit of money to pay in from last weeks takings but I can't pay it in as it will just cover the charges, then I won't have access to any money.

 

Anyway, I've made a decision. My sister in law works for the temps department in an employment agency so I called her and I'm going to see her in an hour to register. I said I would do any work, any hours, just please help me! I'm going to close my shop. But I'm not going to stop my business, I'm going to continue to work from home as I was doing before the shop opened. Damage limitation maybe, or as my OH said, 1 step back to take 2 steps forward?

 

The creditors seem the least of my worries today. I will have to deal with all that once I *hopefully* get a job.

[purpleperson]

Thanks KJD, I've just seen your reply. I might well do that, as I'm going to have to have a closing down sale. It looks like I will be closing at the end of this month.

 

I've just come back from the recruitment agency, they have put me forward for a few jobs, so fingers very tightly crossed that I might actually be earning something soon. I can't address my debts with no income at all!

 

It's a strange feeling. It feels like the end of a relationship, just really really painful, but then also that feeling that I have to keep busy and carry on..

[purpleperson]

Me again. I really don't know what's happening now. My family have told me that I don't need to close down the shop completely, just close for a little while. They say it's a good business (they have seen the accounts) and that I shouldn't give up on it.

 

I'm still hoping that I get the job. That's my main concern now, getting a regular income in. But tomorrow will be business as usual at the shop until I know what's going on.

 

I had a thought about my telephone conversation with the bank manager this morning. The amount we were quibbling over worked out at £45.00. Companies are millions of pounds in debt. My business is £45.00 in debt and the business bank manager can't help me out just a little bit. That's really.. I don't know.. sad?

[1stlifeline]

Hi Purpleperson. I do hope things turn round for you and once you get some of these people off your back you can move forward with your business as it obviously means a lot to you. Dont give up your dream altogether, there is an awful lot of help on here.

[AA99]

Me again. I really don't know what's happening now. My family have told me that I don't need to close down the shop completely, just close for a little while. They say it's a good business (they have seen the accounts) and that I shouldn't give up on it.

 

I'm still hoping that I get the job. That's my main concern now, getting a regular income in. But tomorrow will be business as usual at the shop until I know what's going on.

 

I had a thought about my telephone conversation with the bank manager this morning. The amount we were quibbling over worked out at £45.00. Companies are millions of pounds in debt. My business is £45.00 in debt and the business bank manager can't help me out just a little bit. That's really.. I don't know.. sad?

 

"My family have told me"... gather them all around you, explain it's a world-wide problem at the moment, not just you, and they all have to pull their finger out in all resources!!!!!!!!!! They sound like they're all contibuting positively anyway at the mo so just remind them about the real, hard facts of life and I dare say, as a family, you will pull through. Brave Heart !

[nuthatch]

Still thinking about you purpleperson.

Hope your family really understand your situation because it would be a shame to keep paying the bills on your shop if things are not going to improve soon.

I'm not trying to be negative and you know your own situation better than anyone, but my own husband's business (which everyone agreed was brilliant) had made a £19000 loss 2 yrs ago when the Accountant finally got his hands on the accounts. Like you, the Business Manager was as much use as a chocolate fireguard even though my husband had not missed a payment on his business loan or exceeded his overdraft but needed some support for a short time. So things escalated.

It made him ill because he sat and worried about it so much.

 

Good luck with your agency work.

[jalow85]

Hi,

 

I am new around here so hello, know how it feels when business is bad - just wish the media would shut up for a while OK so lets not hide it under neath the carpet but it just goes on and on. Oh yes and the VAT whoopee 25p saved in every £10.00 that will make everyone go out and spend!! How about reducing rates and employers NI !! Anyway enough of that thought you would love the following just to add a little light hearted humour!

 

A man owned a small farm in Aberdeenshire.

 

The Department of Work & Pensions thought he was not paying proper wages to his farm hands and sent an Inspector out to interview him.

 

I need a list of ALL of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.

 

"Well," replied the farmer, "There's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him £ 200 a week plus free room and board.

 

There is a lady who cleans and cooks she's been here for 18 months, and I pay her £ 150 per week plus free room and board.

 

"Then there's a half-wit. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work. He gets about £10 per week,in good weeks, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of Scotch every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."

 

"That's the man I want to talk to then... but he must be a totalhalf-wit," says the Inspector

 

"That would be me then," replied the farmer.

 

Guess that speaks for alot of self employed people!!

 

Jalow

[purpleperson]

Lol Jalow I like it, that did make me smile, thank you!

 

Well, I have a job interview tomorrow morning, and another interview on Friday. AND I phoned up to enquire about tax credits and was told that we may be entitled to £55 a week - that will feed us well!! That's the good news.

 

My earnings this week so far are incredible, £14.00 in takings so far. The petrol is going to run out soon, but with the job interviews at least I feel as though I'm doing something about it.

 

Another blow today though, got home to a court summons for non-payment of council tax. My OH and I have one each. I was supposed to be applying for benefits for that as we couldn't afford to pay, but I got so confused with the self employed issue and I was waiting for my accounts to be done. I actually tried to phone the council about it yesterday to ask what information they needed but I couldn't get through, now this court summons.

 

This is crazy, there is something new every single day, I can't believe I have got myself into this situation. Especially as, with the business, I've worked harder than I ever have in my life! No evenings off, no weekends! And I'm not planning any for a while either. If I manage to secure a job I'm going to work in my shop at the weekends. For the time being, just to see how it goes.

 

Oh and I got a text message today from a different dca who are apparently going to start legal proceedings against me re my barclaycard. Luckily, because of what I have read on here, that didn't bother me as much as it would have a while ago. The court summons however I know I have to take seriously. I've started to print out the benefits claim form but I think it might be too late. Also confused as it is relating to our old flat, and we have moved now, so don't know what to put on the form.. another telephone call tomorrow I think..

 

Oh and the direct debit for my mobile and my landline phone have both failed this week. Cue more bank charges. Yay!

[mkandy]

Bloody hell it just doesn't get any better for you does is mate!

 

Just reading through your post i see you're thinking of having a closing down sale, or maybe retaining ownership and opening up at weekends only. My only comments on that subject would be, is it going to cost you more to sell up now, or to keep the shop open?

 

If it's cheaper to close up, and you've got other employment options lined up, personally i'd go with that. You could have the potential to work overtime at the new place, and therefore gain guaranteed finances, rather than hoping you get takings at the shop.

 

Just think though, the shop might not have been successful so far, and it might be painful to close up, but, once you've stabilised your finances, and your life is back on track, there's no reason why you can't try it again in the future.

 

Andy

[purpleperson]

Hi Andy, thanks for your reply..

 

At the moment, I think it's going to cost me more to close down completely. I'm tied into contracts with my card machine, my business broadband provider, and I would have to hire a van to remove all the stock and furniture and find somewhere to store it until I can sell it. As my bank account is empty I can't really consider it right now. I'm going to just have to see how it goes for a while...