Depression, marriage break-up, bankruptcy, loss of a family home, lost dreams and hopes, an overwhelming sense of grief, failure and shame - these are recurring themes for many hard-working business people who have experienced the devastating effects of a business collapse.

I have experienced two business collapses in the last 20 years and in the process of writing this book had to 'cut my losses' on my third, a franchise business that fell light-years short of expectations. As a result of those experiences I wanted to do something to encourage the tens of thousands of people who, each year, fall on the battle-field of business. This book (the first in a three part series) shares the stories of many other broken, business operators who pressed forward amidst overwhelming adversity and lived to declare that there is "Life After Liquidation".

Why, this book was written.

The shelves of bookstores are lined with innumerable books about how to “do better in business” or how to climb the ladder of success. But there is “next to nothing” written for those who have fallen off the ladder; for the hundred thousand plus business operators who, like me, have hit rock bottom.

One of the most popular books in the world is the “Lonely Planet Travel guide”. Similarly, this book might be called “The Lonely Businessperson’s Disaster Guide”. This is their travel companion as they trudge the lonely back-roads of business collapse. It is written from the collective experiences of other travellers who have hit rock bottom after business collapse and fumbled their way through the darkness, mostly not knowing where they were going. This is the guide they wished they had and now pass on to fellow travellers.

It is NOT a book about business recovery.

It is a book about the recovery of business people.

If a business is to be rebuilt or restarted, then it must be underpinned by the recovery of the person. So often, the focus is on financial or business recovery, but such recovery attempts are greatly impaired if no attention is given to the recovery of the person.

Obviously financial issues are significant but there are numerous others at an emotional and relational level that have an even more significant impact upon the recovery of the individuals and their families.

This book is a guide post to that recovery and leads them to discover “The Three Platforms of Recovery”. It focuses on the journey of ReBounding from business collapse and developing the nature of a ReBounder.

Introduction: Earthquakes and Financial Disasters

While financial earthquakes are often a primary cause of business collapse, they often reveal faults within our foundations and structure that were previously unseen. Recovery isn’t about rebuilding on old foundations or employing faulty construction processes that are doomed to fail again. If we revert to our old ways of doing things and reconstruct ourselves without learning the lessons of failure, then we make ourselves vulnerable to future disasters and will collapse again with even greater damage.

“How do you rebuild after disaster?”

Chapter 1: The Bullet-Proof Business Person?

No one goes into a marriage or relationship thinking it’s going to fail, yet over 50% of first time marriages end in divorce and over 70% of second time marriages have the same unhappy outcome. In the same way: “No one goes into business thinking they’re going to fail”

Chapter 2: The Crisis / Recovery Path

This chapter follows the typical path of businesses that cross over into the ‘Descent’ phase and eventually hit ‘Rock Bottom’ – or ‘no man’s land’, the place that everyone tries desperately to get out of.  But for those who are willing to learn the lessons of ‘Rock Bottom’, it can be the place of transformation and the foundation for the journey to the ‘Ascent’.

Chapter 3: Lessons from Rock Bottom

My professor at university once said “Why waste a perfectly good crisis?” If you are at Rock Bottom, then you may as well learn something while you are there – which may be some of the most valuable lessons of your life.

1. Knowing when to let go

2. Counting the Cost

Chapter 4: Developing the nature of a ReBounder

In a business collapse the financial damage is obvious and tends to be the focus of attention, but it is the damage “below the waterline” that presents the greatest long term threat. Assessing emotional damage is a part of the process of developing the nature of a ‘ReBounder’.

Chapter 5: ReBounding from Disappointment

One of the strengths (and weaknesses) of entrepreneurs is ‘Pathological Optimism’ – even when failure is imminent; they believe that at any minute, things will turn around. At the same time, this pathological optimism creates a huge gap between our expectations and outcomes and intensifies the degree of disappointment. It is the level of emotional investment in the business that determines whether someone will suffer mild disappointment or utter devastation.

Chapter 6: Rebounding from Blame

When things go wrong it’s so easy to get into the “Blame Game”. But when you blame others, you give up your power to change. We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them. We have to move out of the mindset of victim thinking and take responsibility for outcomes. Winston Churchill once said “The price of greatness is responsibility”. Blame (finding fault) holds us to the past – taking responsibility moves us forward.

Chapter 7: ReBounding from Failure

The ‘F_____’ word is rarely used in polite business circles. Athletes understand its importance and leverage off it to greater levels of success. But in the arena of business it is almost the unforgivable sin. We can learn the lessons of failures from three of the world’s most ‘successful failures’:

Abraham Lincoln – “Fall seven times, stand up eight”

Winston Churchill – “Success is going from failure to failure with great enthusiasm"

Thomas Edison – “Building upon successive platforms of failure”

Failure need not be a Prison; make it a ‘Platform for Success’

Chapter 8: Rebounding from Loss

Financial losses are obvious in business collapse but it is the myriad other losses that are the most difficult from which to ReBound. Loss of Identity and Loss of our Core Needs for (a) Safety & Security (b) Friendship & Esteem (c) Power & Control; are ones that must be faced if we are to become ReBounders.

In this chapter we look at the three stages of ReBounding from loss:

(a) Acknowledging the loss (b) Grieving the loss (c) Releasing the loss.

We also discuss the four hindrances to grief and the phases in grief recovery.

Chapter 9: Rebounding from Shame

The most pervading sensation for most fallen business people is one of shame. Shame drives many away from their normal friendship circles to lick their wounds in isolation. Even many years after a business collapse as people relate their experiences, the shadow of shame is still so often just under the surface.

In this chapter we look at the shame of a tarnished reputation; of lost trust; of letting down our family; of facing creditors; of bearing other people’s mistakes and the shame when others pay the price for our mistakes.

Chapter 10: ReBounding from Depression

Depression is something that most business people never imagine will happen to them. They are often problem solvers by nature and tend to react to their own state of ‘feeling down’ as just another obstacle to push through. This ability to ‘push through’ is an outstanding quality and should be encouraged, but there are times when this irresistible force meets the immovable mountain of depression.

The illusion is that depression has something to do with lack of strength.

In this chapter we look at how depression differs from grief and then seven things you can do to facilitate ReBounding from depression

Chapter 11: ReBounding from Insolvency and Bankruptcy

Insolvency and bankruptcy might seem like shameful outcomes yet they were designed for the protection of those involved. Are they a blessing or a curse? We look at the story of Casey who discovered that he could be ‘financially bankrupt’ without being ‘emotionally bankrupt’.

Chapter 12. ReBound to ???

All the previous chapters have dealt with the things that people are ReBounding “from”. Now we discuss what they are Rebounding “to”. This first part of the “travel guide through disaster” finishes by looking ahead to the next two platforms for recovery – ReStore & ReForge.

My view is that fallen business people have the potential to be the best business people. This ‘Life After Liquidation’ series is about seeing fallen entrepreneurs restored and re-skilled to re-enter the battle field of business as ReEntrepreneurs.

The next page on this site asks "Is your business in the 'Descent' phase?"

Life After Liquidation

ReBound

from business collapse

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OR by mailing to PO Box 2142   Mansfield DC, Brisbane, QLD, 4122