Bankruptcy
Every Tuesday, the courts are filled with sad entrepreneurs. That is the day that bankruptcy requests are processed, both submitted by creditors and by own returns. Most corporate bankruptcies are pronounced at their own request. That actually makes sense because when it comes to your creditors asking, it is very wrong. A good entrepreneur can already see the mood hanging and determines that the business is not going as it should. That entrepreneur - even if it hurts - pulls the plug himself and is the creditor. That is part of good entrepreneurship. Keeping a technically bankrupt company going usually increases the debts, and the creditor, who can always see what the entrepreneur himself sees, is the victim of this.
Filing for bankruptcy yourself is not easy, and many entrepreneurs are reluctant to do so. A comment that I often hear during the session is “I should have done this earlier”. Entrepreneurs are usually hopeful people and saying something is hopeless is something you put off for as long as possible. So it takes courage. But something more is needed. My standard question during that session is what is the plan? In other words: what is the purpose of the bankruptcy. A liquidation of the company? A restart? Are there already candidates? Is the information ready for the curator yet? As an entrepreneur / director, do you know what is required of you during a bankruptcy, what your obligations are? Have you considered debt restructuring? Remarkably often I get a glassy look back. There is no plan, there is no idea. And that is not good.
After all, bankruptcy can be a means to restructure, or to become debt-free again as a private person - after a debt restructuring, or to settle and draw a line under it. You just have to know what is needed for this and it has to happen at a time when there are still possibilities. If the company has its back against the wall, this will often be no different for the bankruptcy trustee. Then there is often only a liquidation of the assets at rock bottom prices. A good entrepreneur provides consultants who know what is needed. And a good entrepreneur thinks about this occasionally, even when things are still going well. Before it's too late.