Well, today is here. I have been doing everything I can to put this off for as long as possible but it's too much weight to carry. My partners and I are meeting tomorrow with it being likely that the business I started 5 years ago will be shut down. One of my two partners wants out as our losses keep mounting.* The other of my partners doesn't think he can pony up the $$ necessary to satisfy our guaranteed credit obligations so he isn't sure what he wants to do. As for me, I'm torn as to how to feel or what direction I want to go. I spoke to my attorney and he said that if we wind down the business properly and use the remaining money to satisfy debt then it would be really difficult for one of our unsecured creditors to bring a lawsuit. On the flip side, some of our unsecureds are people I consider friends and I wouldn't want to screw them if I didn't have to.
I'm sure that partner 1 is going to want me to sign a promissory note obligating me to my 1/3 of the losses. I don't have the money to pay it but I imagine something like $500/month for the next decade would suffice. The other option would be for me to start a new enterprise doing the same thing and use the meager revenue generated to pay them off.
Here's where I'm torn - I've pretty much gotten over the failure. What I'm having a hard time with is the finality of no longer being an entrprenuer (even though it turns out I haven't been a very good one). The failing - my failing - at the business was piss poor accounting. When I started the business we immedaitely started paying employees (including me) instead of starving for as long as possible. Over time, our Quickbooks got so messed up that the only way to evaluate the business was by adding the AR and bank account together and seeing if it was positive. We'd make payroll and put off net terms bills hoping to catch up the next month and of course that cycle can't continue forever. Now that I've cut overhead like crazy and we actually had a profitable month in August, it seems too little too late. As it is, I'm not going to get rich on my current business (in fact just the opposite). But if I close it down and decide to pay them back a certain amount going forward and work my job (which I really like) then I am committing to the fact that my "own your own business, shoot for the stars!" days are done for the foreseeable future. As it is, I have enough ongoing customers and opportuntities that generating a couple grand a month net is possible....but do I really want to put up with that and take on the headache or do I jsut want to have my job, go home at night to my family, and move on with my life?
My wife has seen a huge change in me since I got a real job. She enjoys my company more and says I'm not as high strung and stressed out. And with another kid on the way, the most sensical thing to do is to hang it up and hope that the ~30k of unsecureds don't come calling.
Anyway, I'll drink some beer tonight and try to decide how I want to proceed. It comes down to this: I'm 99% sure I'm going to end up obligated in some way for some of the company debt. Do I continue operating this business (or start another in the same sector) to pay that obligation with a hint of possible upside? Or do I cut my losses, find myself thankful that the amount owed isn't completely insurmountable, and find a generate more money each month for the foreseeable future.
Between you and Gadzooks it's like racing a disabled sloth and a deformed turtle.
