quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol

It's like this: a poster makes a genuine heartfelt thread about his real concerns for his small business, and a big shark and his girlfriend jump right in there stating ridiculous McCain/Palin talking points: not pretty .

quote:

ORIGINAL: OttersSwim

So I own a small picture framing business in Northern Colorado.  The business is just over a year old and doing pretty well - slower and lower than my business plan projections, but still good enough to warrant continuance.

We have all heard about how the credit crunch is affecting small business. Well yesterday it hit home when my bank, Chase, canceled a home equity line of credit that was serving as a source of credit for the business.

We never missed or were late on a payment.  They just changed the rules, revalued our home and canceled our line unilaterally.

We are now in a terrible position, operating only on cash on hand.  The economy is the worst it has been in 70 years...

Our plan included using some of our retirement accounts if the business failed - those are now below the value of the debt we incurred opening the shop.

We are in the midst of a financial "perfect storm" that will very likely wipe us out.

Protect yourselves out there friends - it is rough sailing and boats are being lost... 

quote:

ORIGINAL: BitaTruble

quote:

ORIGINAL: OttersSwim

So I own a small picture framing business in Northern Colorado.  The business is just over a year old and doing pretty well - slower and lower than my business plan projections, but still good enough to warrant continuance.

We have all heard about how the credit crunch is affecting small business. Well yesterday it hit home when my bank, Chase, canceled a home equity line of credit that was serving as a source of credit for the business.

We never missed or were late on a payment.  They just changed the rules, revalued our home and canceled our line unilaterally.

We are now in a terrible position, operating only on cash on hand.  The economy is the worst it has been in 70 years...

Our plan included using some of our retirement accounts if the business failed - those are now below the value of the debt we incurred opening the shop.

We are in the midst of a financial "perfect storm" that will very likely wipe us out.

Protect yourselves out there friends - it is rough sailing and boats are being lost... 

It's unfortunate, but the news just got a little bit worse. Setting aside the fact that people who are losing their homes quit paying property taxes which reduces revenue to the government, the numbers coming out just today have indicated a drop in the 3Q of .3% of the GDP .. the worst performance in 7 years ... and when you factor in the government spending, it's very telling in that without the war expense that drop would have been even more significant than it already is. This is a direct reflection of consumer spending (and things like housing values etc) and that directly impacts small and medium sized businesses. (Apparently not mega-corps like Exxon though.. who is posting huge windfall profites - go figure. )  The numbers for 4Q are expected to be negative (holiday spending should mean not 'quite' as bad as 3Q ::cross yer fingers!::) and for 1Q 2009. Couple that with the loss of 3/4 of a million jobs this year and, of course, the wild ride of the DJI and all I can really say is hold your breath and pray. Cash really is king right now, so if you can hold out with a 7 or 8 month cushion, you'll probably be able to ride the tide. If you don't have that sort of cushion, then I do wish you the best.

3Q = third quarter profits
GDP = Gross domestic product (THE # to watch in terms of economic spending trends)
DJI = Dow Jones Industrial (stock market)

Thanks for the information, Celeste.
The economy seems to be collapsing a bit more every day.
There are not that many shoes left to drop.
Hang on to your hats, the rides are going to get bumpier.

quote:

ORIGINAL: OttersSwim

So I own a small picture framing business in Northern Colorado. The business is just over a year old and doing pretty well - slower and lower than my business plan projections, but still good enough to warrant continuance.
..........
We are in the midst of a financial "perfect storm" that will very likely wipe us out.

quote:

ORIGINAL: BitaTruble

quote:

ORIGINAL: OttersSwim

So I own a small picture framing business in Northern Colorado.  The business is just over a year old and doing pretty well - slower and lower than my business plan projections, but still good enough to warrant continuance.

We have all heard about how the credit crunch is affecting small business. Well yesterday it hit home when my bank, Chase, canceled a home equity line of credit that was serving as a source of credit for the business.

We never missed or were late on a payment.  They just changed the rules, revalued our home and canceled our line unilaterally.

We are now in a terrible position, operating only on cash on hand.  The economy is the worst it has been in 70 years...

Our plan included using some of our retirement accounts if the business failed - those are now below the value of the debt we incurred opening the shop.

We are in the midst of a financial "perfect storm" that will very likely wipe us out.

Protect yourselves out there friends - it is rough sailing and boats are being lost... 

It's unfortunate, but the news just got a little bit worse. Setting aside the fact that people who are losing their homes quit paying property taxes which reduces revenue to the government, the numbers coming out just today have indicated a drop in the 3Q of .3% of the GDP .. the worst performance in 7 years ... and when you factor in the government spending, it's very telling in that without the war expense that drop would have been even more significant than it already is. This is a direct reflection of consumer spending (and things like housing values etc) and that directly impacts small and medium sized businesses. (Apparently not mega-corps like Exxon though.. who is posting huge windfall profites - go figure. )  The numbers for 4Q are expected to be negative (holiday spending should mean not 'quite' as bad as 3Q ::cross yer fingers!::) and for 1Q 2009. Couple that with the loss of 3/4 of a million jobs this year and, of course, the wild ride of the DJI and all I can really say is hold your breath and pray. Cash really is king right now, so if you can hold out with a 7 or 8 month cushion, you'll probably be able to ride the tide. If you don't have that sort of cushion, then I do wish you the best.

3Q = third quarter profits
GDP = Gross domestic product (THE # to watch in terms of economic spending trends)
DJI = Dow Jones Industrial (stock market)

quote:

ORIGINAL: JumpingJax

Best of luck to you. I totally understand this. Started the year off with a 5 year old company that had 4 employees (not counting myself). Ending the year with no employees and barely covering month to month business expenses. That's the way the cookie crumbles, crumble being the key word.

Otter, Do you have a website? Maybe the CM community can throw you a few extra sales.

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ORIGINAL: candystripper

P.S. JumpingJax, if I may ask, what does your business sell? Is it something a website would help with?

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ORIGINAL: candystripper

OMG, JumpingJax...do you know how many of my friends have their hopes pined on transitioning into web design? It's being outsourced how, exactly? How does a foreign national compete for English-speaking business? Is the price they set so low you cannot compete?

quote:

ORIGINAL: OttersSwim

So I own a small picture framing business in Northern Colorado.  The business is just over a year old and doing pretty well - slower and lower than my business plan projections, but still good enough to warrant continuance.

We have all heard about how the credit crunch is affecting small business. Well yesterday it hit home when my bank, Chase, canceled a home equity line of credit that was serving as a source of credit for the business.

We never missed or were late on a payment.  They just changed the rules, revalued our home and canceled our line unilaterally.

We are now in a terrible position, operating only on cash on hand.  The economy is the worst it has been in 70 years...

Our plan included using some of our retirement accounts if the business failed - those are now below the value of the debt we incurred opening the shop.

We are in the midst of a financial "perfect storm" that will very likely wipe us out.

Protect yourselves out there friends - it is rough sailing and boats are being lost... 

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol

It's kind of shitty to hijack a personal thread like that with such blatant political propaganda, no?