I for one will be happy to say goodbye to this dreadful decade. As it comes to a close, I sit here in my home, unemployed, my 13-year old, once-successful and multiple award winning business started from my home, destroyed by both the dishonesty and greed of unethical advisors and colleagues and a financial meltdown that nobody, not even the economists, could have predicted. And I am not alone. Not by a long shot. The difference is I am willing to be 100% candid about my situation. I have to be, to be able to heal from this mess.
Three years ago we were one of Entrepreneur magazine’s TOP 500 Small Businesses in the Nation. It’s been a brutal fall. It is not my nature to hide behind a failure. I have to learn from it. The lessons are brutal, too.
Small businesses everywhere are bleeding and dying, yet nobody has stepped up to help us. In fact, the phone rings daily with people who were happy to take the risk with us when things were good, but are now feeling entitled and looking to recap all of their investment that we cannot in a million years ever repay. We have been completely and totally financially destroyed, through no fault of our own. There is nothing left to give.
I am incredulous that some of these concerns think we are acting out of irresponsibility. Some are even threatening, harassing and using other illegal tactics. I actually have one person accusing me of still being in business but hiding that fact. Why would anyone do that??? People just aren’t thinking.
None of us wants to be in this situation. We all worked our entire lives to build our companies. We never looked to dodge any responsibility. In fact, we fed the system that has sucked us dry like a hungry animal. Do you not see we would all much rather be working every day, living our passion, employing our trusted people, paying our bills, than going through this hell?
It will be interesting to see what the next few years bring in terms of our economy. If 92% of our economy is based on small business, what then?
This week’s TIME magazine features a great article about the travails of the past decade. We all need to read it and learn. Our tragedies aren’t just financial. They are also tragedies of the human spirit. People need to get a grip on what humanity represents these days. Because if we don’t, then this decade is just a harbinger of more to come.
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1942749,00.html
I wish everyone Peace of Mind for this coming year. Let’s begin to heal. Let’s be kind to each other. Stop the fighting. Find a compromise that works for all sides. Share the responsibility, and rebuild from this rubble together.
Posted by Patty Soffer under Awards & Business & Economy & Politics & Spirituality & The Collec+ive & The Collective & Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
