My brother Tom owns a small furniture company. He called me last night, upset. He fears his looming insolvency amounts to willful bankruptcy. I was speechless, because I had never heard of such a thing. His little business wasn't doing so well, I knew that, but I had no idea that willful bankruptcy was now on the table.

First I looked online to find out what willful bankruptcy even means. It concerns people who are no longer able to pay their debts. If a business owner keeps doing business while knowing he can no longer pay, it's willful bankruptcy. That's even a criminal offense. Slowly I understood his agitation. He had no idea, but a buddy apparently told him he's taking this risk.

He definitely needs a solution, a restructuring plan for his lovely little company. The problem is that he apparently has no clue about bookkeeping, and none of us had any insight. Willful bankruptcy has to be averted now!

New Structure and Customer Acquisition

60 percent customer acquisition and ultimately 40 percent the core business. That's an old business adage. He hasn't thought much of advertising so far, but he needs it, since his shop isn't exactly in a prime location. His online store is rather bland and needs some serious work. He simply needs 50% more revenue or more, then things wouldn't be the way they are now.

We're pitching in now. That's my sister and me. He was ashamed and didn't tell us what things really look like.

So here we go:

He definitely needs a solution, a restructuring plan for his lovely little company. The problem is that he apparently has no clue about bookkeeping, and none of us had any insight. Willful bankruptcy has to be averted now!

New Structure and Customer Acquisition

60 percent customer acquisition and ultimately 40 percent the core business. That's an old business adage. He hasn't thought much of advertising so far, but he needs it, since his shop isn't exactly in a prime location. His online store is rather bland and needs some serious work. He simply needs 50% more revenue or more, then things wouldn't be the way they are now.

We're pitching in now. That's my sister and me. He was ashamed and didn't tell us what things really look like.

So here we go:

  • new online store
  • more advertising in the local area and neighboring towns via print media
  • negotiations with creditors

It can be done, and we're ready to get things rolling again for him for free. I know something about bookkeeping and our sister about advertising. She used to work at an ad agency and is now a mother of triplets and can no longer do it.

We can do this!
We'll start with a clearance sale, to clear the decks and bring in money quickly. There will be weekly promotions and prices will be raised a little. He hadn't really factored in sales tax. A beginner's mistake that some young businesses make.

We're sure that we'll pull this off together and that he'll get out of the mess quickly. Marketing is everything. Presenting yourself well and then retaining customers. It'd be a joke if we couldn't manage this as a family clan. We've accomplished more than this since our parents died in an accident. Nothing comes before our family bond!