96% of Small Business
StartUps Fail in the
First Ten Years!
Date: July 24, 2007
From: Peter Carruthers
What are you doing to GUARANTEE that you won't go down with your ship?
In 1992 I closed my business, and lost everything. And then I lost a whole bunch of stuff that I didn't have -- mostly because I signed some sureties that I shouldn't have. And when things began to go wrong these sureties stretched into places that I would not have dreamed of. I spent the next three years talking to other business owners, trying to find out what they were doing to protect themselves. Only to find out that they were doing exactly what I had been doing -- nothing.
Because I was the only person asking so many questions about this facet of business, I suddenly found myself South Africa's leading (and only) expert on how to do it.
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Since 1992 I have consulted with thousands of small business owners, and distilled everything they have said, combined with a bunch of strategies that I created because no advice was available when I needed it, into a single book that details - in simple, easy-to-read English - EXACTLY what you can do in South Africa to guarantee that no matter what happens to your business, you and your family will not only survive -- but prosper.
One of the reasons I was one of the two judges in the Sanlam/3Talk Business Owner of the Year competition in 2004 is my reputation for straight no-nonsense talking on small business issues.
Almost all the knowledge available to us little guys assumes that we are simply smaller versions of Stock Exchange firms. That's not true. We are completely different, with different needs and concerns.
When I closed my business there was absolutely no help available. In consulting with small business owners who were going out of business, I realised that by the time the sheriff started knocking at the door it was almost too late.
That's when I decided that prevention was infinitely better than cure, and began running a seminar called Crashproof Your Business. More than 25,000 small business owners throughout southern Africa attended this seminar between 1995 and 2003. Their input helped refine and test these strategies, and the distilled essence of all their wisdom is what you get in this Crashproof Your Business book.
Why is it impossible for your banker to be a business advisor? - When a business needs money, the first place we usually go to is the bank. After all, that's where they keep all the money. Most bank advertising focuses on how generous banks are when lending money to assist you. Yet most of us know very little about how banks really operate. And we know even less about the subject of MONEY. My first job was at a bank, and I spent my first few years qualifying as a CAIB[SA] - Certificated Associate of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa - a qualification most revered by SA bankers. Why is your accountant's business advice so incredibly dangerous for your family? - Your accountant has been trained to deal with the challenges of big business. That means that he is quite happy to help you save 2% on your overdraft, even if it means that you have to sign a surety which gives the bank your house. (Directors of listed companies do not have to sign sureties, and their houses are never at risk.) I will show you how to get round this easily. Why does your attorney allow you to sign documents that guarantee your bankruptcy if your business fails? - Your attorney spent five years studying law -- and none studying business. He assumes that you know a lot more than you do. He also assumes that you are a little big business -- and doesn't understand that your small business is a completely different animal. As far as he is concerned, it is standard practice to sign sureties, so he's not going to advise you otherwise. Worse, even if he does advise you otherwise, he cannot tell you how to negotiate around them. The information you provide is so relevant these days, and the manner in which you deliver it is superb. The banks have a strangle hold on us these days, and we have been brainwashed into thinking that there is nothing we can do about it.
Allan Bolt
What is the ideal business structure for you? - There are five or six different structures that you can use when you set up your business. Some of them are incredibly dangerous because they expose you, and everything you own, to all the vagaries of the economy. We look at which are the best, and why, and what it means to you. What are sureties, and how can you avoid them? - If you already have an overdraft, or have ever borrowed money for a motor car, or furniture, or signed a lease for premises, or purchased computer equipment on hire purchase or lease -- you have already signed a surety. That surety will last as long as you're alive! I will show you how to avoid them in future -- no matter what the circumstances. If you have already signed sureties, how can you minimise the damage AND get them back? - If you have already signed sureties, I will show you what you can do to get them back. And if you cannot get them back I will show you what you can do to minimise any damage that they can possibly do to you in future. Even with my accounting background Pete's strategies have been a revelation to a small business owner operating in a tough environment.
Steve Oberholzer CA(SA)
How can you compartmentalise your personal assets so that they are safe from any business catastrophe? - I will show you how to compartmentalise your personal assets so that even if everything collapses in the next three months, you will not lose everything. And if you give me nine months -- you will not lose anything. How can you build resilience into your business cash flow to prevent any future disaster? - Most of us frantically look for money two days after we needed it! We will look at a few simple things that you can do to guarantee that your business has cash resilience for any future disaster. And we will look at ways to do this without signing your life away. How can you build resilience into your personal financial situation so that you can survive any future business disaster? - You are in business to make money to look after yourself and your family -- now and in the future. It does not make sense that if anything happens to your business, you and your family lose everything. We will look at mechanisms you can use to build cash resilience into your private finances so that no matter what happens you in your family will be safe.
Almost all the small business owners that I know work incredibly hard - usually 240 hours or more each month. Yet they spend no more than a couple of hours each month on looking after the money that they have already earned. I will not tell you how to do your job better in this book. You already spend enough time doing that.
However, I am going to tell you EXACTLY what you need to do to guarantee that no matter what happens to your business - your future, and the future of the people you love, is absolutely secured.
This means that:
your house will be safe from the creditors of your business, including your bank; your life savings will be safe from the creditors of your business, including your bank; your car will be safe from the creditors of your business, including your bank; and even though your business no longer generates an income for you, you will have sufficient resources to find another income stream that will be safe from the creditors of your business, including your bank.
How can I say this? Simple! I've already helped more than 30,000 small business owners structure themselves to achieve exactly this. And I have held the hands of hundreds of business owners while the businesses failed, and watched them move forward without losing anything.
I have also held the hands of hundreds of business owners who called me to tell me that they had ignored what I had told them in my seminar, and now it was too late, and asked for my help. And while it broke my heart, there was almost nothing that I could do.
The strategies that I talk about in my book are not urgent for most of us. They are important, however. And it is a sad reality for most of us that the daily urgencies usually get in the way of the important stuff.
[Click Here To Order Your Copy Today](#order)
I today personally applied the principles that you so strongly advocate - ie - don't sign anything unless you understand the Latin bits - and I eventually, after some very tenacious refusal on my part, which started at the client service counter, had the branch manager of one of the biggest branches of FNB in the country back down...
Lindsay Steyn
If you're serious about making - and keeping - your money, read this book!
Erich Viedge, prize winning Journalist and Speaker
The Banking Miracle
In every bank managers office is a piece of furniture that bears a startling resemblance to a chair. When you visit your bank manager looking to borrow money, your bank manager points to this piece of furniture and says "Won't you bend over my barrel?"
You see, he knows that 9 out of 10 small-business owners wait until it's almost too late before they look for the working capital that their business needs.
If you are one of the 10% who are ahead of this game, then you are under no pressure because you will only be needing money at some future point -- not at the end of this month!
If, on the other hand, you DO need the money at the end of this month you certainly are going to bend over the barrel. And if you have already written out the cheques, you are going to really bend over. And if you have already posted those cheques, you are going to hug that barrel!
I will probably repeat this point often during this book. That's because it's worth repeating. Your bank manager conducts between 10 and 20 negotiations about money every single day. You will typically meet with a bank manager to borrow money once or twice each year. Honestly, who is going to be better at this game?
I am glad we agree on that.
Now that you are fully extended over this barrel, your bank manager reaches into his desk drawer and takes out a large Queen pineapple. He grasps it firmly on the green part, holding the large spiky orange fruit aloft. He vaults over his desk and inserts the pineapple into a portion of your anatomy that doesn't often see sunlight.
It is called the banking miracle. It isn't a miracle that it is totally painless -- even though it seems that way at first. And it isn't a miracle that you can still walk. The miracle is that you have just signed away every single thing you own; every single thing you have acquired over your lifetime; and every penny you will ever earn in the future -- in return for a small business overdraft. And the miracle is that you feel so good about it!
Honestly, tell me that when you walked out of the banker's office you weren't relieved that you had managed to buy another few months? You didn't feel great because you were such a fine negotiator?
(I might be going out on a limb on this one, but I was there as well -- signing every piece of paper I could -- and feeling good about every one as well.)
A brief excerpt from CrashProof your Business
Because of the way most small businesses are structured, and because of the advice that most small business owners receive from their bankers, accountants, attorneys, and business advisers -- almost all the money that funds a small business is secured by the private assets of the business owner. This means that when that business fails (and a huge percentage of small businesses fail) that small business owner suddenly finds that everything s/he owns gets taken away to service the business debts.
Not only does the business owner lose everything that s/he has worked for until this moment, but s/he also gets hit by judgments from all the creditors. These can last as long as 30 years! The effect that they have is devastating because it means that s/he cannot even open a bank account, or borrow enough money to finance another business effort for at least five years.
Easy to understand strategies laid out in the Crashproof Your Business book show you how to solve these problems quickly and effectively, and get on with the real task of making money.
Within a couple of minutes of ordering your copy of the Crashproof Your Business book I will guide you to my download area where you can download the 165 page book in PDF format which is compatible with every computer operating system on earth. I'm not going to vex you with silly passwords and restrictions on printing it. Heck, I want you to write all over it because that's the only way that you are going to take action. You can even copy this PDF on to your PDA to read on the way to the bank!
When I closed my business I lost everything I owned -- about R1 million in 1992 terms. And then I took judgments for another R2 million that the business didn't owe! (I cover how this happens as we work through the book.) This knowledge cost me blood, and I learned it too late. You can get it all right now for just $27.97. When I ran seminars between 1995 and 2003, you would have to pay almost R1000 to attend. And the seminars were never convenient for everybody. Reducing everything I know into this format means that you get the knowledge for a much lower investment, in a convenient method, at a time that suits you. (That would be now!)
Your family is relying on you to look after them - just as mine is. I let them down in 1992, and since them I have devoted my life to making sure that you have the knowledge not to make the same mistakes I made. So far I have helped
25,000 seminar delegates, 7,000 readers of this book, and 2,000 online subscribers
do exactly that. Please allow me to help you right now. Knowledge is often frightening, but always empowering. All you have to do is order this book right now, and tomorrow you will be dealing with your bank manager on your own terms!
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This book will change your life,
or I will give you your money back!
[Best of Success,]
[Peter Carruthers]
[P.S.- Some time this year you will meet your bank manager to talk about money. He meets with business owners like you 5 times every day. This means that he is very, very good at negotiating about money. How often do you personally meet with a bank manager? Who do you reckon is getting the most practice, and who is most likely to win the next negotiation? CrashProof your Business will instantly put you in a different league. You owe it to your family, and yourself.]
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Copyright Peter Carruthers. All Rights Reserved.
26th Floor, Old Mutual Centre, 303 West Street, Durban, 4001, South Africa
PO Box 4321, GATEWAY, KZN, South Africa
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