The key things you simply have to know!

• This is a real turning point in your life
  You should treat it as such, taking it as an opportunity to appraise all that is important to you.  Do you want to carry on in the same business or do something completely different?  If you want to carry on, what are you going to do differently that will make it a success this time around?
• ‘The business’ and ‘the company’ are not one and the same thing.  
  It’s possible to use a formal insolvency process to split out a viable business from its hopelessly insolvent company shell, protecting the business yet ridding it of debts it can’t pay.  This isn’t debt avoidance, it’s finding a practical solution to real life problems;
• Smaller companies tend to have fewer options and less time to act than bigger companies.
  This is because those on whom smaller companies depend tend to provide less support when things are going badly.  Your bank will not be supportive, it will go into self protection mode.  It’s up to you, and you alone, to find a solution.  One option could be my Business Resuscitation Programme;
• Smaller businesss often have little value
  The less formal way in which small businesses tend to operate means the goodwill often lies with the directors and key staff who maintain the key customer and supplier relationships, rather than in the company itself.  This means everyone’s less inclined to save the existing company from formal insolvency;
• All formal insolvency procedures severely damage the value of the business.
  Some procedures destroy more value than others.  The key question you need to ask is: ‘what’s the net benefit, financial and non-financial, of the different informal and formal solutions?’
• Cost is a big issue in choosing which insolvency process to use
  Every formal insolvency process is expensive, some more so than others.  Cost is far bigger an issue for smaller companies.  This can mean, for example, that the cost of an administration of a small company can outweigh any benefits gained: a sale of the business and assets followed by a liquidation could be a less expensive option.
• Not all insolvency procedures are the same!
  Each procedure has its own nuances, from the outside they seem subtle but in reality they are far from it.  It’s absolutely key that the right procedure is chosen if the best result is to be obtained, and the choice can be determined by seemingly small factors