$220,000 of Business Debt In 6 Months

Xander shops all the top-term insurance companies to save you money. Get started at Xander.com. I'm 29, married, kids, and I built a solar company that does residential solar back in 2024. We did about $350,000 and then about $750,000 in 2025. Thank And then the law changed. Yes, sir. Yeah, and the law changed. Whenever that happened, our finance partner about... Five months ago, filed for bankruptcy, and a lot of our deals that were tied up with them, we just didn't get paid out on. you. So then we were trying to figure out how to run the company with cash deals, which the pool of people that buy solar in cash is pretty small. And now over the last six months, we've accumulated about $220,000 in debt, and we just got reprimanded on our license for not being able to pay a customer back on time. And so now I am at a crossroads. Our monthly expenses, we do not own a home, we are renting a home, are about $9,000 a month because I started making money and decided that it was a good idea to start living like I made money. And now I'm not making money and I'm just trying to figure out what to do considering bankruptcy and just kind of at a loss. I'm sorry. I was exactly your age when I was facing the same thing. And so you said you're married? Yes, sir. Married. One kid. How old's your baby? She's two. Okay. How long have you been married? Three years. Would you allow me to just start at the beginning before I answer your question? Yes, sir. The most important thing when this is over is you and your wife. Nothing else in this conversation matters until you have that and you keep that. Because the number one cause of divorce is money fights and money stress. And when Sharon and I were in the situation you're in, we just about killed each other. Yes, sir. She would have left, but she didn't have a car. Yes, sir. That's the exact situation we're in right now. I mean, and so you need to go back home. And here's the reason, and here's where that comes from. And if you understand the reason, then it helps you to battle it. Stay-at-home parents, here's a blind spot that could wreck your family's future. Thinking only the spouse who earns the paycheck needs life insurance. What stay-at-home parents do at home would be incredibly expensive to replace. In fact, it's priceless. That's why both of you need term life insurance from Xander. Xander shops top-rated companies for coverage that fits your budget, and it costs less than you'd think. With term life insurance, your family's still protected, no matter whose name is on the paycheck. Go to xander.com or click the link in the description. Number one, ladies are more security-based than men in general. Not all, but in general terms, okay? Stereotypical terms, if you want to call it that. And my wife's security gland was going into spasm mode because, you know, because she could see everything falling around us and she was terrified. And when you're running a business like this and you've been successful followed by not being successful for you, that is a major blow in confidence and in identity and in self-worth. And when she's afraid and gets her claws out, And you're not in a position, it makes your self-worth go down, which makes her get more terrified. And it is a vicious cycle that's ugly. So first thing you do is when you get off the phone, you hug her and you say, we're going to get through this together. We started with nothing. We can go again if we have to. As long as you and me and baby are okay, and we're going to be okay, I can make money. I can get a job, okay? Yes, sir. And then detach yourself emotionally from whether you're okay if this business makes it or this business doesn't. Instead, you're emotionally just going, oh, this is a round of monopoly, and I'm getting beat. But I'm not going to die from it, okay? So hang on to your marriage. Hang on to your worth. Hang and let her know it's going to be okay. And that we're going to be together and we're going to get through this. And you need to say that like every morning to each other. Yes, sir. All right. Now, then thank you for letting me go back there. Cause I do remember that. And I, I've coached with a lot of families in your situation, in my situation that didn't make it. And so I always want to start with you make it first. Now, then now, okay, now let's play monopoly. What's going on. All right. So what kind of debt is this 220,000? So it's $120,000 in customer obligations. So people that paid cash, the finance company that filed for bankruptcy. If they pay cash for solar panels, why do you owe them money? Because whenever we had the reprimand on our license, we had told everyone that we were waiting for the approval to. We'll be able to do the installations again, and we gave everyone a timeline. Oh, so they've given you money, you haven't done the installation. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. The work's not completed, the deadline passed, now you just owe them the money back, it's over. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, and we have to pay a 20% restocking fee on all the equipment on top of that. So on the customers that canceled, we have to pay, we send the equipment back to the distributor. And 120,000 of them have canceled, $120,000 worth. Yes, sir. Yeah, the other ones are, they're fine with waiting. Um, and so we have those. Have you already restocked the equipment? Yes, sir. We've already sent it all back. Okay. All right. So that's a done deal. We're just waiting on that water under the bridge. So what happens if you don't pay those people? They take your license. Yeah, well, our license is already suspended. So, I mean, I'm kind of operating under the idea that I have to generate another form of income. There's no way for us to generate income with the business right now. I'm actually on a trip with a different company out of state right now because I have to pay bills. So the business can't produce a dollar in income until you repay the $120,000? Yes, sir. What's the other $100,000? The other $100,000 is a line of credit with a It's a different distributor. It's tied with the finance company, so it's not directly affecting us yet, but it will if we do not pay it. But the finance company, pretty much, we would finance a deal, the line of credit would go through the finance company, and then through the distributor, and yeah. Then they'd pay you out on the paper, yeah? Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What are you making now with this other business? I'm going to be making, I make about $20,000 a month, so about $240,000 a year. Good. All right, so... Um, well, before you file bankruptcy, uh, what I would do is nothing and just let it sit and, and see how long it burns. Okay. Okay. And, um, who knows, it may turn around, something might turn, something might come loose, but there you're fine at this stage, you're filing bankruptcy on what might happen. They might sue you for this money. The customer might, the finance company might, uh, these two, these debtors might sue you, but they haven't yet. And you can't produce any revenue with that company because of this mess. And so, you know, if enough of them come at you that you can't cash flow settlements with them later, a year from now, you might be forced into a Chapter 7. But you're not there yet. And if you can emotionally set this aside and say, I didn't set out to screw these people. I'm not a bad person. The market changed because the law changed, and then the finance company went broke. None of those are things I could have affected, so I didn't set out for this to happen. So I'm going to do the best I can do to work through this, and if I can't, I can't. And just push it over to the side, and then you guys go live your life and see if you can work your way through this. Xander is the best place to find term life insurance to protect your family. Visit Xander.com for quotes today.