123 Insolvency

David Cameron, to his credit, recently spoke about all of the emerging markets (not only just China and India) within the global economy and the effect these markets will have in the coming years.

He said of these emerging economies that they are “lean, fit and obsessed with enterprise” while countries such as the UK are “fat, sclerotic, over-regulated, spending money on unaffordable welfare systems”.

“We’ve been hearing about China and India for years, but it’s hard to believe what’s happening in Brazil, in Indonesia, in Nigeria too” he went on to add “and meanwhile the old powers are on the slide”.

All the stats show how much these emerging markets are picking up speed, despite the current slowdown that is affecting the whole global economy. The Eastern powers are becoming the engine room for the world economy. These powers aren’t hocked up with debt, unlike the Western economies.

Our own politicians seem to spend far too much time undermining UK business and looking for new ways of taxing business and success without looking at what’s happening elsewhere. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have single-handedly brought this country to its financial knees by creating a welfare system and public sector that we simply cannot afford.

The wealth of this country, ultimately, comes mainly from business activity. The UK has a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of our opportunities within a dynamic world market – now and over the next generation. We need to stimulate growth and attract enterprise from overseas wherever possible.

It’s not good enough talking about it…we need to do something.

WONGA SPONSORSHIP OF NEWCASTLE – SHOULDN’T THIS GET A RED CARD?

Premiership Newcastle have signed up Wonga for a four year deal worth around £24m to the club.

Wonga provide short term loans to individuals and businesses who cannot get loans through more conventional channels at monstrous annual rates up to and in excess of 4,000%.

Is it morally right for a football club of such standing to be taking up such a deal?

R3’s president, Lee Manning, criticised the deal and commented “according to official figures, the North East has the highest personal insolvency rate of anywhere in the country at 35.2 per 10,000 adults. This is compared to a rate of 29.6 in the North West and 17.5 in London.

Wonga has chosen to target a region that has comparatively high numbers of people experiencing financial difficulty. Our experience tells us that many of those seeking high cost credit need professional advice for their financial problems, rather than accruing further debt.”

Clearly there is a market for this gutter finance. Our modern society creates an environment where people’s expectations are greater than their means. Most people can borrow responsibly. Others, by taking such loans are committing themselves to the dustbin of financial chaos – struggling from one payday to the next with ever increasing repayments and inevitable financial misery.

Shouldn’t our politicians and major corporations be taking a lead in this? We are not going to stop everyone smoking overnight but smoking advertisements have been banned because this is damaging to people’s health. What about people’s financial health?

Advertising such loans only compounds the problem. Shouldn’t we be educating people to live within their means? And shouldn’t Newcastle United be using different sponsors?

Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover

People start business for a variety of reasons;

They could be to …………………..

• make more money
• have more quality time with family
• want to be their own boss
• deliver a service/product better than they perceive currently
• have status in the community – big house -flash car
• in control of  their own destiny
• play more golf

In reality …………………………

Running a business  can make you more money, but it is not guaranteed, it brings with it very long hours, total commitment, stress and worry about the business cash flow, will there be enough to pay the bills when they fall due ie salaries, HMRC, VAT, etc..

Employing personnel, where do you find the people that have your work ethos, commitment, loyalty and motivation to move the business forward.

You will see less of the family and therefore more stress and possibly more guilt.

Yes you have the community standing whilst driving that big flash car, but when things go wrong is it worth it?

Playing more golf? in truth NO, you’re probably not play at all.

Do not judge a book by the cover…..

For those individuals  who have not run a business , they will never completely understand what is involved, we all gain knowledge in life by our experiences, so if things do go wrong, for whatever reason, before you start to add personal funds, be it savings or using your personal credit cards to keep the business afloat, take professional advice!

Above all do not fear what people think, they have not walked your path and never will.

Never judge a book by its cover………..

Problem shared is a problem halved old wives tale or true?

I recently was contacted by a gentleman that had been referred to me as he had numerous debts, pending court proceedings, bailiffs about to knock on his door, and he was extremely stressed. He was a hard working individual trying to provide a living for his family, working long hours when his market place changed and he was unable to produce the income he had been used to.

This individual thought if he ignored the problem it would go away, and by not opening the post the matter would not be real.

Once contact had been made a dialogue had begun between the two of us, he soon realised that he needed to supply certain information, and to do that he was required to open all those brown envelopes, because he has taken action, already feeling better his words….

“I am starting to feel better about this process and have just taken my head out of the sand and opened months’ worth of post.

Thank you for your help so far. Funny how just opening the valve has taken some pressure away”.

Moral of the story – The earlier a person contacts us the better, do not bury your head in the sand!  This is what we call ‘ostrich syndrome’; seek advice from the experts and you will not only feel better but your health will improve too. You will also be far less stressed and in the long run you may even save some of your assets. Yes you have guessed the answer it is not just an old wives tale, sharing a problem can help share your burden and we can help, if you ask….

If you have financial worries, business or personal then please contact us.