www.iva.co.uk

Is there any help out there!!!We have a music shop that is leased until 2010. We are running at a loss at the minute and getting worse.We have accumulated debts of credit cards and loans to keep the shop afloat. We also live in a council house on benefits as we put all our money back into stock and cannot take a wage yet, we have been trading 3 years. Is there any help or are we doomed!!

hello deborah and welcome to the forum....i am certain that doomsday isnt upon you...one of the experts will no doubt be able to point you in right direction

stick in there

I think Andy can offer advice, he had similiar problems that resulted him going down the IVA route

Hey deborah, welcome to the forum. You are in the same situation I have been. Even though my business was running at a loss, I still managed to sell it. If business is getting worse then I would consider getting the business and stock valued. If you can sell it you may be able to have the lease assigned. I was able to surrender my lease even though I was only half way through so there might be that option too. There is always Bankruptcy for you and then find full time employment. Hang in there, we're here to help. X

I didnt know you could run a business and claim benefits at the same time.

plasticdaft wrote:

I didnt know you could run a business and claim benefits at the same time.

It is possible to claim Council Tax Benefits and Housing Benefits if you are self employed under certain circumstances. However the terms of such are pretty stringent.

As a follow up I found this PDF document on the WWW. It goes someway to explaining my comment above http://www.winchester.gov.uk/Documents/ ... oyForm.pdf

With reference to being on benefits, my husband is disabled and was getting depressed hence us starting our business. The job centre gave us advice but there was no financial help that is why the credit cards played a huge role. We took a gamble, however in hindsight maybe at the wrong time. Depression looms again due to accumulating debts trying to make the business work,and get us off benefits.The debate with us is when and how do you throw in the towel!!!

Deborah, it's a hard decision. In my case, my business was running at a loss and I'd tried everything to try to increase takings. It didn't work and I had a responsibilty to my creditors to sort my debts out. You can't work for nothing! If you can't turn it around then maybe it's time to try something else. Do you feel as though it can make a profit?

If you are trading at a loss, then those losses have to be funded somehow - and this is usually at the expense of taking out further credit. As sad as it may be to bring the business to a conclusion, it may be time to look to the future and try and find more certain paid employment.

If you can sell the business, and transfer the lease, then this would be an ideal solution, however this may be difficult if you are showing consistent losses. You really now ought to have a chat with an insolvency practitioner to see what options you have available to deal with your debts.

Deborah, chat to a professioanl person. It really will help. You might not like to hear what they've got to say but believe me, you don't want to leave it until the CCJ's and bailiffs start mounting up. Speaking from personal experience here. And possibly a fresh pair of eyes looking at the business may see ways that you can turn a profit. Or at least keep it afloat during the current economic situation.

Hi
If you can see no obvious turnaround in your trading performance then you really need to find a solution.
On the info that you have supplied bankruptcy seems a viable option as you are not homeowners.
You could look to sell but it may not a good proposition to a potential buyer.
Speak with an IP and talk over your options,there IS a solution out there
Regards