"Bankruptcy and Recession"

My name is John and this is about my uncle in North Carolina.

I watched in helplessness as my uncle had to declare bankruptcy in North Carolina. As the owner of a small furniture store, he was always very conservative and careful with his finances, but overly generous with his three sons, my cousins.

During the 1990s, he almost lost his business, but he managed to streamline and reorganize the operations and was doing well until the latest recession hit. As a small business, he couldn't compete with the larger chain stores, and it wasn't helping that his customers were losing their jobs and not purchasing any new furniture.

Meanwhile, his sons (ages 15, 21, and 24 and all living at home) were not doing anything to help their dad. Things progressively got worse and when he couldn’' make payroll one week, he realized that he had to do something.

The banks weren't lending. He had tapped his savings and pulled money from his retirement account. He laid off loyal employees - people who had been his friend for years. But it was too little, too late.

He realized that had he been more aware of the warning signs, perhaps he might have been able to save his business and spare his employees the hardship of closing down the store. North Carolina might have lost another small furniture store, but they gained a businessman who now has a greater understanding of what bankruptcy means and what a person has to do to avoid it.

Thankfully, my cousins are helping make the house payments, so my uncle is not losing his home. He did try to sell the business, but there were no buyers, so after consulting an attorney, he made the difficult decision to put it on the auction block.

My uncle is an honorable man, and wanted to wrap things up properly. He hired a lawyer to help him through the legal paperwork and realized that there was no shame in filing bankruptcy. He had managed his business as best as he could and just got caught up in the recession, like everyone else.

He also realized that he still had his health, his family and his home, plus he had an incredible amount of practical and hands-on experience that could be put to use in another job.

For now, my uncle is working for a former competitor in a marketing capacity. He's reaching out to his former customers on behalf of his new employer. Former competitors have now become collaborators.

My uncle is also much happier. He no longer has to work ten or twelve hour days and has been sleeping better knowing that he isn't worrying about his employee's paychecks.

Although going through a bankruptcy is probably at the bottom of anyone's list of pleasant activities, it has helped refocus my uncle's ambitions and has probably added years to his life.

Not a bad trade off.

Contributed by John from North Carolina