“I don’t see a way out of it…” The long, silver haired attorney was leaning back in his leather seat. His mahogany wall paneling and Arhaus executive desk were saturated with a long history of “helping” business owners walk through the bankruptcy process. He patted his tie as if to signify his approval of his own assessment. He put the stack of papers on his side table and sat back up at his desk. “Good luck, young man. If I were you, I wouldn’t waste my time talking to these guys.”

He paused as if I were supposed to lay out a counter argument. I just nodded. Solemnly. Slowly. Taking the gravity of the situation in.

The banker who arranged the meeting looked as if he couldn’t decide if he needed to keep cleaning his glasses or massaging his temples. I had been sitting at this attorney’s desk for about 20 minutes and I’d only said, “hello.” He had invited me into his office on the behest of a very bright and talented commercial banker. A matter of a last resort, I suppose. The financials I was looking at didn’t look like a case for bankruptcy. But, then again, I wasn’t a bankruptcy attorney. I was brought in to see if we could set up a Hail Mary.

After about a minute of silence, I looked up from my set of the financials and asked my first and only question. “What’s the client’s goal here?” It was my turn to lean back as I waited for the response.

“The client’s goal?” The attorney sounded befuddled. “What’s that got to do with it? Your pal here said this client needs to get some help and that’s what I plan on doing. I see a clear cut case of a business owner who needs to file bankruptcy. What their goal should be…” he paused as if to ponder the enormity of their situation. He looked around his office, admiring his custom office setup and continued, “is to figure out where my $20,000 retainer is going to come from.”

The banker and I left the meeting and decided that I should try talking to the business owner.

Well – I did talk to the business owner. He told me he had a 760 FICO Score and has never missed a payment in his life. He said he was willing to do just about anything necessary to avoid filing bankruptcy.

I met with him and his wife at their business near Naperville, Illinois. They have a team of over 20 employees, and I could tell from their sentiment that their employees were like family to them. I learned about the history of their company, how he got started in the business, and how he hopes his son can take over the business one day. He told me his business has had to shift with the times but that he knows his team can handle anything.

At the end of our meeting, we talked through some options and he decided to hire my team to help him pivot his business. It wasn’t going to be an easy pivot, I warned. Pivots never are.

My team got to work right away on the first phase. The first phase of all our engagements – the SV Analysis. It’s from this phase that we’re able to pull out the hard-to-articulate issues that many organizations have. Issues with software reporting, complicated and undocumented processes, employee motivation and engagement, and lack of vision.

Through this first phase, we mapped out the revenue streams, identified the key processes, and began to forecast the various steps needed to get through the directional change this business was facing. We communicated clearly with the team what the vision was and successfully implemented the needed changes within the organization. One of the changes was getting a new attorney.

After working with him for 3 years, we got his business turned around, found him a new attorney, got him a better credit facility, mapped out new core business processes, reengineered his software, and retrained his team. He even posted his most profitable year in over 10 years in 2021, DURING THE PANDEMIC.

His new loan was a $2.5M loan that put $750K of working capital back into his business and reduced his total monthly obligation by more than half.

This business owner represents, to me, the lifeblood of America. He started his business in the 70’s with nothing but a phone book and a stack of cigarettes. He’s one of the good old boys. He’s as proud of his company as he is of his country and his family.

As I reflect on this engagement, which I’ve affectionately called The Bankruptcy Attorney’s Referral, I realize that many business owners don’t know what they don’t know. I’ve heard this a million times. I’ve also heard that hammers only see nails. And a bankruptcy attorney is a great example of a hammer that can only businesses through the lens of his profession.

The experiences I’ve had working with hundreds of business owners has helped me to think in broad terms and to focus on what’s most important to my clients. That’s why we start every engagement with our SV Analysis allowing our team to formulate and execute our Strategic Approach.

Do you know someone who’s struggling with a tough business decision? Have them contact my office to see if we might be able to help them.