Sole Traders Do's and Don’ts

This is not a complete guide to the actions you should take, but the rules here will hopefully guide you through the difficulties you are facing. There is one golden rule to remember

If an action or step seems wrong or "smells" wrong – it generally is.

Always think hard what your creditors might think those extenuating circumstances may seem reasonable at the time but if the business fails and you have no clear record as to why decisions where made, they may seem less appropriate in future. See introduction for how to use the remainder of this site.

Do’s

• Follow our guides and read the website thoroughly.
• Talk to us if you have worries or concerns – we don’t bite!
• Build a detailed picture of your financial position
• Build a detailed picture of your sales prospects
• Look at 99 Marketing Questions
• Note down all decisions or assumptions you made when reviewing the position.
• Be honest with yourself, those that work for you and those at home.
• Take advice from soletrader-rescue and other professional advisor.
• Look at all options before making a decision to ACT
• Consider all objectives – yours, the businesses and those people around you.
• Formulate an action plan and then ACT
• Talk to the bank
• Build a list of all your objectives

Don’ts

• Bury your head in the sand, problems will not go away, reading this website is a good way to start
• Guess about financial details – build a proper detailed picture of your debts and assets
• Spend lots of time building detailed accounts – that’s history
• Blame everyone else
• Ignore legal paperwork – answer it, fill it in take copies and act responsibly
• Prioritise creditors incorrectly – call us for details.
• Hide the issues from your employees and the people around you
• Ignore professional advice – they can sometimes "see the wood for the trees" when you cannot.
• Ignore closing the business as a serious option – there is life outside your business and working for someone else may not be as bad as you think.
• Keep changing plans
• Lie to the bank or anyone else – they have a habit of coming back to haunt you
• Be unrealistic