Deciding to close shop after you've been in business for a while is not easy. Most one man shops should do it long before they do to cut their personal losses, but they don't because they were hoping beyond hope that sales will turn around so they don't have to go out of business and impact their customer.
This rarely works. When things start to go bad, they first run their business on their profits, then their retained earning which when they're a one man shop means their own bank account. At some point the bleeding has to stop. The big looser is the owner, not the customers. The owner's loss for trying to be a nice guy is likely in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. If it really went on too long, folks have lost the homes, and their wife, when their business fails.
Many high power fliers think nothing of launching a $500 or $1000 rocket and are willing to accept the possibility of a total loss if the flight fails, but apparently some folks like to whine and moan because a great magazine fell on hard times and went under and they didn't get their magazines. Whine and moan if it makes you feel better, but in reality, your loss was a J reload. You'll loose even more next time you crash a rocket.
Bob
Point taken, but folks tend to get testy when they've held up their end of a transaction and the other side, for whatever reason, doesn't keep the faith on their end.
I'm a farmer and I've been in the custom haying business, sold hay, cattle, cotton, and grain, and dealt with other farmers and ag dealers from both sides of the table, as both a buyer and seller at different times. I know the difficulties of which you speak. I've had to make decisions and change what I've been doing several times over the years, in order to make it. I've had to increase prices I charge at times, that's true, but I've always made those changes BETWEEN JOBS; IE if I agreed to do a job for the guy up the road for $X amount, then that's what I do. If I have a breakdown and drop a $400 part, well, that's just part of the business, not his fault. Now, I HAVE backed out of a job before because I got in there and started damaging my equipment because the ground was rougher than I anticipated, and after a breakdown I let the guy know I wasn't coming back to cut more, but I followed through with what I HAD started and came back and raked and baled it for him, even though I got a little 'banged up' because I felt that was only the right thing to do, and I got paid for the work that I did. It was amicable to both of us.
Now I've seen some of these farmers around here run up a $40,000 or more chemical bill from some of the local suppliers and then just up and walk away from it, quit farming, go into custom picking or something like that instead of farming it themselves, whatever, and just leave the ag supply guy holding a bill with nothing to show for it. I was talking to a dealer who had been trying to collect $40,000 owed him, calling the guy for MONTHS to no avail, finally went to his house. Brand new $40,000 diesel pickup in the driveway, but can't pay his bill. He talked to the guy's wife, and she told him that her husband was down in the Valley hunting on some big lease-- one of those $5,000 a gun leases on some big ranch. The dealer was livid, and rightfully so-- "you mean to tell me he can't pay his bills, but he's got money for a brand new pickup and jaunting around on some big hunting ranch??" Yep, that's the type! Anyway, he had to go through bankruptcy because his chemical business was broke because of that jerk and another couple more besides, but he was lucky enough to be able to reorganize and restructure enough to keep his doors open. A lot of others haven't been so lucky! So, now, NOBODY gives in-house credit anymore, and I can see why-- I don't either. I had guys welching on me, wouldn't pay, delay, delay, delay, and still come by or call wanting me to deliver more hay. After getting two payments behind I told the guy "No, I can't afford it. Pay what you owe and then I'll deliver more." He finally paid me off and I said, "I can't finance your operation anymore-- if you want hay, come pay for it and I'll deliver it when you want it. If you need money, you'll have to borrow it from the bank, because I can't afford to have hay already delivered to you that someone else is willing to come by and pay cash money for, but I don't have the hay or the money." He bought for another few months and that was that.
I know how tough it can be, I've been there, still am there, but still... I know which ever side of the table I'm on, I DO expect goods/services for payments rendered... It may only be a "J" motor reload loss, but it's still a loss nonetheless... If a $500 rocket crashes and burns, well, who's fault is that?? But, being shorted on something is another animal altogether... Sorry, but right is right...
JMHO! OL JR
EDIT: PS... I've seen some farmers hit hard times and go belly up, and leave a dealer with a big bill they couldn't pay, and whatever equipment they didn't have mortgaged, they delivered to the dealer for him to sell to whittle down his losses. That's how my seed dealer ended up with an old planter, disk, 7700 Deere combine, a grain head, and corn head for said combine. They weren't worth a whole lot, not even enough to cover the bill, but at least the guy TRIED to do the right thing, did SOMETHING to make it right, well, as right as he could make it. The bank/Farm Credit got the tractors and other equipment, but the planter and combine and heads and disk he owned outright, but he delivered them to the dealer to try to make it right. If the guy was a crook, he COULD have just sold them himself, pocketed the money, and walked away and left the dealer to twist in the wind, but he DID try to make it right.
That's pretty decent for a guy who just lost his livelyhood and had to go take a job in town... OL JR
