The Signature That Could Cost You Everything

I made this mistake myself once.

Even now, talking about it gives me that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The business was flying. We needed funding to keep pace with the growth, so I found an online lender and applied.

When your figures look strong, borrowing £250,000 or even £500,000 can feel surprisingly easy.

You apply. You receive an answer almost immediately. You sign the agreement.

Job done.

You don’t think twice because everything is going well.

Then the dominoes begin to fall

What you don’t see coming is the chain reaction.

Companies you have never heard of, with seemingly nothing to do with your business, begin collapsing one after another.

Eventually, the last domino falls.

Your biggest customer.

Suddenly, you are left with a bad debt so enormous that it feels as though somebody has reached into your bank account and ripped the money straight out.

Your customer goes under. Your business follows.

Then the personal guarantee you signed without a second thought comes home to roost, at precisely the moment you have no income left to fight it.

The lender wants its money.

And it doesn’t mess around.

The consequences follow you home

This is no longer simply a business problem.

You must go home and tell your family that the income has stopped.

The house may be at risk. The children’s lives may have to change. Holidays are cancelled. Everything you worked for suddenly feels uncertain.

I know how that conversation feels.

It is one of the reasons I wrote Before the Wave.

I don’t want another successful business owner to discover too late that one customer, one bad debt or one signature can bring the whole thing crashing down.

The good news is that there are practical steps you can take to protect yourself before that happens.

They are simple. But they must be taken early.

I have put them all in the book.

[Buy Before the Wave on Amazon]

Don’t wait until the first domino falls.