XMAS (credit) CARD CRUNCH – RUSTY CHEVROLET

Why do I get physically ill when I read regarding Solyndra, the company that declared last week that it was announce publicly or officially bankruptcy DESPITE $535 million in federal loan guarantees. Maybe because I’ve just been through an 18 month long cash crisis where I’ve had to go to the mats to survive. Federal policies didn’t cause my problems, but they sure didn’t help matters. Take the little business credit crunch, which is ongoing and brutal for millions of little business owners who could use a little cushion. I believe it is continuance to be an unintended consequence of stepped up bank regulation. And I don’t think any individual in Congress or the Administration has a clue regarding little business. Or genuinely gives a damn, except when the cameras are rolling.

What do I mean going to the mats? Well, it starts with a commitment to never give up, no matter what the odds, or the amount of modest pie you have to eat. (If modest pie were fattening, I’d weigh with regards to 400 pounds!) But a little of it is good now and again, it helps keep one grounded. Too much gets tiresome, exceptionally when you read when it comes to $535 million pissed away on a company that apparently doesn’t know how to do financial projections.

And then I learn that “a major fundraising bundler for Obama” – or rather George Kaiser’s family foundation – was a major capitalist in Solyndra. In Saturday’s Washington Post (9/3/2011), there was an inside article when it comes to the George Kaiser Family Foundation issuing a statement that “George Kaiser is not personally invested in Solyndra and did not participate in any discussions with the U.S. Government with regards to the loan.” Translation: that’s what underlings are for.

Why the rancor?

I feel like I don’t have a voice. There is a severe little business credit crunch going on, and the federal government just seems to make it worse. Yet they find $535 million for a “green” company furnished by a crusade contributor. That’s just not fair.

Meanwhile, I have to fight American Express tooth and nail to get more time to pay a huge bill I ran up in anticipation of new sales that did not materialize. It was a week after the 15 day grace amount of time that I got the call. I was dreading it, like you can’t believe. This was mid to late December, 2010, just before Christmas of course. I find that Murphy’s law is firmest when employed to matters of little business cash flow. Two weeks earlier, my daughter Kelly, who had moved back temporarily with us because she lost her occupation (with guess who!) – totaled our only car and broke her pelvis. She had no health insurance of course.

She had driven my wife, Laurie, to work that day so she could have the car. It was raining, and I assume she was late (operating on “Kelly time” as we family members affectionately call it). She didn’t see the speeding (at least that is our contention) vehicle barreling down the George Washington parkway as she pulled out to turn left, and took the full affect in the driver-side door. It was in regards to 7:30 a.m., 2 or 3 hours into my workday, when I got a call on my office phone from a number I did not recognize.

I ascertained that she was alive and conscious, and then much discussion ensued with regards to how to get me to the scene. One of the good Samaritans who stopped to aid offered to pick me up (Kelly was driving our only car). But traffic had been stopped in both directions on the parkway. It was only two miles away. I grabbed a backpack, my iPhone, and a large total of reading material (ever been to an emergency room?!), hopped on my bike, and pedaled furiously in the rain..

I’m happy to say that 8 months later, Kelly is fine and dandy, and living on her own.

Two weeks to the day after Kelly had her accident, my wife slipped and fell while leaving for work and broke her foot. When she called and told me what happened, my second thought was “your poor thing, I hope you’re OK.” My introductory thought was, “Damn, who’s going to help take care of Kelly?! What affect will this have on our family income? Does my life insurance policy have a suicide clause?”

Within a few days of that, son #2 flew in from California, disunited from his wife. You guessed it – he was unemployed because his father had annihilated his work hours.

Then shortly after the new year, son #1 moves back home – likewise unemployed. There are vantages and disfavors to employing family members.

I at last worked out a repayment schedule with AmEx. One thing nice with regards to doing elaborate cash planning, is that it strengthens your resolve, and helps you keep away from commitments that come back to bite later. At original they let me get by with paying $100 each couple of weeks as a sign of good faith. Of course, what actually hurt was losing all the points I had accumulated. I was tempted to use them up prior to getting delinquent, but figured that would not look so good.

The AmEx collection rep was professional and firm, but relentless. She even suggested I skip a mortgage payment in order to compensate them instead. (I declined) Some time in January, we reached a standoff, and in the long run she called in her manager who speedily offered me a work out plan to pay them over two years. A ray of light at the end of the tunnel. I tried not to sound too eager when I said yes.

I’m afraid I had to swear off workers for a spell, and hunker down. This when my work day was constrained by driving my wife to work, my daughter to X-ray’s and doctor’s appointments, and cooking and (occasionally) cleaning for our abruptly un-empty nest.

And in my business, software and consulting, time is money. So, yeah, I felt the strain. Good thing I didn’t listen in regards to Solyndra back then.

I won’t bore you with all the gory details. A few highlights include getting turned down for a re-financing because I couldn’t document my income for the former year. I had a lousy year. I had hardly any income. My house value in relation to my two mortgages was such that in normal times, I would have been competent to take another $50,000 or so out. That was not to be.

I even called a micro-lender in late December. They wanted assorted years of tax returns, a formal selling plan, a long application filled out, and collateral. They’d even receive cash as collateral. Wait, what? I wasn’t born yesterday. I’m not going to give cash to someone so that they may turn around and lend it to me at a substantial rate of interest.

I decisive at the time that it was not worth the time it would take to apply. The greatest or most complete or best possible loan amount was $35,000, and the guy I talked to seemed to have “writing grant applications” as a core competency vs. understanding the needs of a little business.

Then there was the email marketer I had stopped using in January. Long story short: I let them know that I was not going to be competent to pay them for the duration of the 12 month contract I had signed the former May (one of various infrastructure building errors I made in 2010). I suggested we work out a compromise. They declined. So I ignored their calls and emails until I received an for the length of one night letter in May from their in-house counsel. I waited a few days before calling them back – wanting to preserve at least a shred of dignity. I dragged it out until June, and started making payments the end of July. Just 10 more to go. Again, the elaborate cash planning strengthened my resolve, and gave me confidence.

But listen – I am not the only one. These stories are repeated a million times over out there in small-business land. I know – I talk to clients each day. I see their financials. I am not the only one who has war stories when it comes to business survival.

So you may see why we little business owners would be a little trouble when we learn that a company received $535 million in federal loan guarantees, and then declares bankruptcy. They found that retail solar panels for less cash than it took to create them was not a good business model. Well, duh! Apparently this “green” company wasn’t so good at bringing in the green.

I hope it turns out to be a case of corruption – because I would hate to think that it was mere stupidity on the portion of policy makers in the federal government.

I guess I will have to be thankful. The little business credit crunch is good for (my) business. When roots of capital arid up, business owners just have to make do with less. Good cash flow planning and decision making is critical. SurvivalWare shines in this environment.

But let me say this: we’re not going to put up with this incompetence much longer. Remember who the front line tax accumulators are. That’s right: business owners with employees. We are not altogether without political power. It’s time to give us a voice.

Xmas Credit Card Crunch Rusty Chevrolet

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Xmas Credit Card Crunch Rusty Chevrolet Picture

Xmas Credit Card Crunch Rusty Chevrolet Photo

Xmas Credit Card Crunch Rusty Chevrolet Pic

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