Hello from Petes Weekly.

If you answer YES to any of the following questions, may I share some crucial information with you:

• Has your business ever had an overdraft or loan?
• Does your business rent offices?
• Does your business employ staff?
• Has your business ever bought anything under a hire-purchase or lease contract (cars, vans, switchboard, photocopier, fax machine,…)?
• Does your business have any credit card facilities?
• Does your business have a Telkom account?
• Has your business got any contracts with mobile phone operators?
• Does your business pay VAT?

In most of the above cases you have probably signed a personal surety (personal guarantee). While, for SARS, the law ensures that you have effectively signed a surety for any debts your firm will ever owe SARS. So what? Rob Davies recently mentioned that seven out of every ten start ups in SA close in their first year. Internationally, just four firms seem to survive their first decade. These closures usually happen because the firm has run out of money to pay its debts. These are the debts that you have personally guaranteed  if you answered YES to any of my questions above. The single biggest problem with personal sureties is this: If the firm cannot pay the outstanding bills, how on earth will you pay them personally? If you want to know everything related to sureties, how to finance your business without signing them, how to defend yourself against the sureties you have already signed, and how to survive business closure, please click here to check out the complete Sureties Survival Guide series. And check out the YouTube video. It is kinda difficult to offer anything light hearted when it comes to sureties, but I sure had fun trying. It is a complete update to the work and research I did for the bestselling Crash Proof your Business book back in 2003. The laws have changed, and so has technology, closing down a few options and opening up others. If you choose to join me next month, and you are amongst the first 50 seats, you will automatically get a 33% discount if you use the code: SURETYEARLYBIRD Finally, if you know any business owners, I sure would appreciate you forwarding this email to them. My brush with sureties back in 1992 cost me more than R2million (which would be a lot more today), and it would please me greatly to help a few folk hold onto their homes and savings.

Warm regards Peter Carruthers