Monday 11 January 2010

Poor Dennis - A Story...


In our attempts to be polite, everything recession-oriented has the strapline 'survive and thrive'.

My book, workshops run by accountants and seminars run by banks. Business support organisations and consultants now give everything the S&T tagline and sometimes we reverse the letters so it is T&S!


Survive and thrive, my foot. The reality is 'grow or die'.


Businesses are either growing or dying, moving forwards or moving backwards, up or down. Maybe it is time that we were a bit more honest with our clients.


I found some 'middle of the night' notes from the last recession. I know that they are pretty much identical to the panicky notes being written all over the country right now:


"What am I going to do about:

  • Collapsing profits
  • Vanishing cash
  • Ineffective marketing
  • Improving competitors
  • Increasingly demanding /price sensitive customers
  • Busy fool syndrome: working harder with less results"
  • Lack of direction
  • Unable to find the solution by myself."

The answer is in the last bullet point: "unable to find the solution by myself".


Most of us are as much a part of the problem as we are a part of the solution. As part of the problem we have to look outside ourselves – it is our (relatively) limited thinking that has got us where we are today. So get outside help to unstick yourself.


I met Dennis about two years ago at a seminar I was running. The next I heard of him was a desperate email grumbling about profits, cash, marketing, competitors and so on. Winter 2008 had been truly grim as the reality of a real recession was dawning on everyone. But he thought he could sort it out himself (so why was he writing to me?).


Last week I received an email from his wife. The story is truly tragic.


Dennis inherited his family business consisting of restaurants, cafes and two pubs. Everything started going wrong when the first indications of the credit crunch created an overnight slowdown in customer spending.


Sales collapsed last Christmas and, with no outside support and a wife fed up with his moaning, Dennis ending up staying awake for two nights, a full 48 hours, literally worrying himself sick. So sick that the doctor signed him off with a sick note and a ban from going near the business for a month.


He returned to work, before the allotted time had elapsed, to try to rescue the ailing business but it was all too late. The business owed to much, had run out of credit and watched profits crash spectacularly. Dennis felt trapped.


Dennis hid the impending doom scenario from his wife and children on the first occasion when the bailiffs banged on the door to collect some debts. When Dennis’s wife opened the door to them the following night she let them in. Fed up with the Dennis’s lies and deceit she packed a bag and took herself and the kids to live with her mother in north London.


In a desperate attempt to get some professional help, Dennis visited his accountant and begged for forgiveness and some kind of a magic silver bullet. The accountant realised that Dennis wasn’t going to pay his outstanding bill and went to court to make Dennis bankrupt in a bid to minimise his firm’s loss. Nice one.


When Dennis told his wife about the summons she realised that they would lose the family home; she told him to expect a letter from a divorce lawyer.


Dennis’s entire life (and mental sanity) is falling apart all around him. He sees no future and is in a very dark place indeed.


As a distant observer I feel for Dennis. His pig-headed belief that he could find a DIY solution that would solve his problems was misguided to say the least. There are times when you need to recognise that every part of you and your business has become stuck... frozen in the headlights.


And to get unstuck you need to decide to take massive action.


Poor Dennis.

10 comments:

Dennis Burn said...

This Dennis is not unique. There is no real support for small businesses or their families when things start to go a bit wrong.

The pain of running a business in the last throes of death is depressing for the strongest of people.

Your Dennis loses everything. He is a statistic. While I understand the whole winners and losers argument one still has to wonder if this was really necessary. Should he have been allowed to take over the business in the first place?

Could a more effective or responsive bank or accountant or business link have been able to help? They would all have seen that the writing was on the wall but did they try to help? Who knows? Could they have helped? I think so, yes.

So much for brotherhood and helping your fellow neighbour.

This blog is not the most helpful start to this week.

Dennis

Karin H said...

Sorry Denis that I don't agree with

"There is no real support for small businesses or their families when things start to go a bit wrong."

There is an abundance of support out there, IF you're willing to look, ask and then - most important - implement the advice given.

So much for being pig-headed, stubborn and arrogant.

On personal experience I can vouch for brotherhood and helping your fellow neighbour - all it takes is to ask and listen, in fact making sure you're part of that brotherhood and a good neighbour.

Karin H (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

Jeremy said...

I think the heart of Dennis's argument is
"Could a more effective or responsive bank or accountant or business link have been able to help?"

In an ideal world the answer is 'yes'. Without more info it is difficult to say.

Reading between the lines this was not the case. My experience is that banks and accountants tend to look after their own interests first. This is partly because they get a pretty good picture of what is going on often before the client realises it themselves.

As for BL, they are let off the hook.

Karin is right. There is an abundance of support out there, IF you're willing to look, ask and then - most important - implement the advice given.

Jeremy

Marjory D said...

If carlsberg ran a bank or accountant or business link then what?

Dennis Burn said...

The bit that went
"The accountant realised that Dennis wasn’t going to pay his outstanding bill and went to court to make Dennis bankrupt"
is the theme that drove me mad.

This is a typical example of playing both sides for your own benefit and while that may be the capitalist ideal of everyone looking after their own needs it just seems wrong.

Yes, there is a lot of so-called help out there but a lot of it is self-serving (hitting their targets or lining their pockets).

As far as I am aware there is only one professional helpline/charity for people going bankrupt which is (surprise, surprise) heavily under-funded as it depend on donations. How ironic.

Dennis (different one from the story)

R (author) said...

While DIY may not be the answer there is still the issue of finding a professional you can trust. (Look at the post on web designers.)

At least you know what you are getting with DIY.

Or does "DIY = RIP" to quote RC?

R

James Marsh said...

It is people who think that they can DIY that get bad results.

Look at web sites. Everyone thinks that they can run one but have no idea of the subtely of code, SEO and SEM.

They wonder why they get poor results, They need to work with someone who can help them.

I agree with Robert Craven here, despite his insulting comments about web designers.

Dennis Burn said...

I may have to copy and paste this a few more times so that you hear (read?) what I am saying (writing?):

There is a lot of so-called help out there but a lot of it is self-serving (hitting their targets or lining their pockets).

I repeat:

There is a lot of so-called help out there but a lot of it is self-serving (hitting their targets or lining their pockets).

I repeat:

There is a lot of so-called help out there but a lot of it is self-serving (hitting their targets or lining their pockets).

I repeat:

There is a lot of so-called help out there but a lot of it is self-serving (hitting their targets or lining their pockets).

R (author) said...

While DIY may not be the answer there is still the issue of finding a professional you can trust. (Look at the post on web designers.)

At least you know what you are getting with DIY.

Or does "DIY = RIP" to quote RC?

R

Dennis Burn said...

The bit that went
"The accountant realised that Dennis wasn’t going to pay his outstanding bill and went to court to make Dennis bankrupt"
is the theme that drove me mad.

This is a typical example of playing both sides for your own benefit and while that may be the capitalist ideal of everyone looking after their own needs it just seems wrong.

Yes, there is a lot of so-called help out there but a lot of it is self-serving (hitting their targets or lining their pockets).

As far as I am aware there is only one professional helpline/charity for people going bankrupt which is (surprise, surprise) heavily under-funded as it depend on donations. How ironic.

Dennis (different one from the story)