Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Should You Negotiate with Creditors on Your Own?

Negotiating with a creditor is all but guaranteed to be a nerve-wracking experience. Even if you find yourself represented by a highly qualified and experienced professional team it’s natural to feel anxiety when the stakes are often as high as the future of your business. These anxieties will only multiply manifold if you decide you’re going to negotiate with your creditor on your own. In general negotiating with creditors on your own is a bad idea, but there is a crucial factor which can make the process worthwhile and successful- and it’s not what you think.

Image via Budgeting.thenest.com
The only time you should negotiate with your creditors on your own is if you are able to do so without emotion. Most people believe that a thorough understanding of all the legal and accounting ins & outs of their loan will be their best asset during negotiations, but all of that knowledge and know-how will do you know good if you can’t keep a cool head during the deal’s proceedings.

At the end of the day most people aren’t able to negotiate dispassionately with their creditors when the future of their company is at stake and should never try to tackle the process on their own. While the professional expertise, the convenience and the experience offered by a successful legal firm are all highly beneficial during a negotiation, it’s your professional representations emotional distance from your case which makes them such an essential hire.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Amazing New Secret of Restructuring Business Debt

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You’d be hard pressed to find a business which didn’t take on significant debt to either form or to grow during a critical stage of its development. Many of those businesses will eventually find themselves unable to pay off these loans according to their original terms and find themselves needing to restructure their business debt in order to stay solvent and to produce a business plan which will allow for future profitability. While reducing your operating costs in order to lower overhead and generate extra cash to pay off your debts is a valid response to insolvency, there is a secret which allows you to restructure your business debt without freeing up or generating any extra income.

Many companies have been able to negotiate with their creditors to exchange a chunk of their business debt in exchange for equity in their company. Essentially a businesses’ creditors will “buy in” to the company which owes them money, purchasing a stake in their future through the alleviation of already extended credit.

If you are planning on restructuring your business debt through this method you MUST work with experienced and qualified professionals to make sure you don’t accidentally provide your creditors with a controlling share of the business in the process. If you and your professionals craft the proposal intelligently and carefully you will be able to trade debt for equity, restructuring your business debt without losing control over your company and without having to immediately generate addition cash.