How to Avoid a Critical Mistake During Covid-19 Time
Small business guru Peter D Carruthers (Peter@PeterCarruthers.com) writes:
"Hi
This is just a quick note about something critical during this
scary time.
It's about a contract called an
Acknowledgement of Debt.
I've just read a piece about negotiating with suppliers for new
terms. The author assures the reader that the supplier will ask you to
sign such a document. And that you should.
This is the worst advice on earth. Never sign one of these. Never.
There are three key reasons.
First, your
firm
owes the money.
You don't.
But if you look at the Acknowledgement Of Debt, you find your
name and your ID number at the top. Sign this document, and you take
over the debt in your private capacity. This gives your
creditor/supplier two different entities to chase.
Now that you are in the firing line, so is your house.
Threatening to take your home is a much easier way to extract money from
you than threatening to sue your business.
Your marriage contract probably allows some sharing of assets and
liabilities. Good luck explaining this to the person you love when the
Sheriff comes calling. (Been there, hated doing that.)
Second, when someone chases you for money,
they must follow some rules.
They must prove your firm owes the money. They must prove they
delivered the goods. They must demonstrate the products were as ordered.
That the timing was correct. That the services were up to spec. These
are all defences you can use to slow down the process.
Any lawyer can slow this process to a crawl. That buys you time,
which is the most important thing you need now.
Third, They will promise you they will hold back if you sign the
document.
There's only one way to put this nicely: they are lying.
This is the last step in a long process to get their money – and
they leapfrog all your rights when they ask you to sign that document.
I suggest that if asked, you simply say No.
I doubt very much anybody is going to hammer you during this
time. It makes a bad story when the press finds out. But the moment this
thing looks like it's over, your signature on that piece of paper will
haunt you.
If you want 100 minutes of life-changing business-survival training,
click here to join
my free Crashproof your Business course.
Right now I feel as if the reason I endured all of this stuff (because I
made every mistake in the book) was so you could
learn
it before
experiencing it.
Please share this now. Before people you know get hurt.
Warmest regards
Peter"
All the best from Rick at megaplex.co.za,
the World's most helpful website for shops in Sandton.
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