Hi everyone,
I've been on this site for over a year now for advice and guidance on the best way to deal with my debts. I finally plucked up the courage to go for an IVA and was approved in September after some great work by Melanie Giles and her team. I thought I owe it to everyone on here to take a moment of my time and tell you my story.
Three years ago I decided to start a new business after already successfully starting an Internet Cafe a year earlier. After winning awards for my business I felt invincable and decided to take on this new venture publishing a magazine.
Although I was borrowing a lot of money I thought the idea was sound and just to make sure I got some back up finance just in case. We had 'guaranteed finance' from our bank manager and an outsourced sales company selling small advertising space aswell as another investor.
After a month or two we realised cashflow is very slow in the publishing industry and despite having some great deals lined up with Stella Artois and Scottish and Newcastle to name a few we began to struggle for everyday running costs. So we decided to cash in our back ups. The sales company, although having spent too months selling had only actually brought in £400 cash in the bank with lots of deals 'pending'. This after paying out a few thousand to them as a deposit!
The bank manager also went from being very nice to useless and said they could not lend us the money now! And just to polish it off my original investor said he wanted his money back!
Basically in the space of a week we went from being secure to losing it all. I had to lay all the staff off with no pay for that month. Some nearly lost their houses and some got very nasty towards me. Although I was trying my best to help people out out of my own pocket only a few understood. I was also taken ill that week with chest pains and which was very worring considering I was only 26!
A few weeks of hell followed. I had to recoup all the company computers and lease cars from some unpaid and very angry staff. I then had to realise the size of personal debt that i would be lumbered with. A lot of leases had a personal guarantee in place so as well as owing banks loans I also owed thousands in mobile phone contracts, leased premises and computer leases.
To cut a very long story slightly shorter, I was left with around £60,000 personal debt with repayment of over £1200 if I recall. I still managed to keep my other business which was doing okay but I also had to lay off some great staff from there too!
I could of entered bankrupcy proceedings but that would of meant losing my first business too, which i just couldnt do. Some people had suggested that I pass on ownership of my business and then go bankrupt but still manage it. Apparently alot of people do this but it is infact illegal and I couldn't have it on my conciense. I decided therefore to go for a dept management plan paying around £475 PCM. I carried this on for around a year or so. Payments were quite tough and creditors ring every five mins including sunday mornings. I'd moved back in with folks so this didnt go down well!
The worst thing by a mile was letting down genuinely good people(staff) and potentially ruinning their lives. I felt completely lost and feared for my sanity on many occasions. The following fews months were very difficult mentally but having moved back to my home town I realised I had a great family and some fantastic friends to support me.
Then last summer I found this website and decided it was time to go for an IVA. It would hinder any future business finance and maybe stunt growth but it needed sorting once and for all. Melanie Giles' team were fantastic from beginning to end as my case was quite complicated too. If you read this Melanie you may remember the issue with Bartercard!
Then in September with debts of around £60,000 I had a call saying that my offer of 24p(ish) in the pound had been accepted apart from a slight change of an extra £5 per month! I happily agreed:)
Since then it has been a challenge having to watch my spending very closely but you do get used to it and you don;t waste anything.
What I want to say to everyone out there who maybe in financial strife is GET ADVICE. Speak to all your friends and family and be honest and open about it. I bottled it all up for over a year which did me no good at all. There are so many good people out there who will look after your best interests.
I also had the pleasure of meeting my girlfriend in the last year who actually urged me to go for an IVA. Throughout the last 2 years since the closure of my business I have come to realise what is important in life.
I am now much, much closer to my family, I have a fantastic group of friends and have met what could well be my future wife. Though I have a massive debt(now managable) to pay off it's just not important in the whole scheme of things.
Sorry for the Tolkien-esk story - I hope that people will read it and realise what IS important.
Money is not the route to happiness your health and your friends and family are.
Good luck to everyone out there facing any kinds of problems. You are not alone!
