In a similar fashion, financial freedom is something many people strive for. If you are not financially free (in America or elsewhere), you are slaving away at some job; basically, you are dependent upon someone else for your financial needs, and you must submit to the conditions they set for you. In short, we all want to be free, whether we are talking about governmental freedom or financial freedom, or any other type of freedom.

Striving to be free is in our nature and we long for it.

Most of the time, financial freedom is accomplished through savings. When people learn to master their finances, they begin to save more than they spend. Their savings accumulate over time, and they finally reach a point where they have enough resources that they no longer find themselves enslaved to the burden of producing more income than expenses.

If you doubt this, take a look at any financially independent person. They generate enough money from what they have accumulated so they no longer have to labor in a traditional job. True, some financially independent people continue working in a traditional job, but most of them do not; instead, they enter early retirement or run their own business operation, setting their own hours.

Financial freedom occurs when the amount of resources amassed is able to generate enough revenue to surpass expenses and add to the net resources. This is a sort of transition to a new way of life. We know that every (or almost every) financially independent person had to make this transition at some point in his or her life, and if you want to be financially independent, you also will need to do this.

In my book, How To Reach Your Own Personal Financial Freedom, I show you, step-by-step, how to make your own transition to financial freedom. Click HERE.

Most people gain financial independence by saving more and more money. Think about it: if they are able to save money, then they must have more money coming in than going out. But it is not this simple.

Some people may believe they are saving money each month, but in reality they are accumulating debt that cancels out those savings. They live month-to-month by using credit cards, all the while putting money in the bank. They ignore their credit card bills, looking only at their savings as it grows bigger and bigger, until finally the credit card company comes around with a lawyer and sues them and takes their home and those funds in their bank account. All their savings are canceled out. This is a simplified scenario, but it is a very common one.

Surprisingly, many people have no clue about their income and expenses. Although they believe they are getting ahead and on the path to financial freedom, in reality they are just getting further and further behind. Understanding and managing one’s finances so that we ultimately reach financial freedom is not a simple task. Just making the conscious determination that we are on the right track is difficult for most people.

I will help you determine this. Click HERE.

To illustrate the complexity of determining financial freedom, consider the current economy in America. Many competent economists believe the government has lost control of the economy. Those in charge have borrowed so much money that it will be virtually impossible to ever pay it off. America cannot even make the interest payments now, and must borrow more money to pay those. To pay the country’s rising debts and stimulate the economy, Uncle Sam is acting irrational.

What did these politicians do in response to the economic downturn?

They are printing more money to pay the country’s debts and stimulate the economy. In doing so, they are inadvertently devaluing the dollar, and prices for basic commodity goods are going to rise precipitously. But the stock market prices seem to be climbing back up; security prices are increasing.

Why?

Because everyone is getting out of dollars and into other investments because the value of the dollar is dropping due to all the extra dollars being printed; people are dumping American dollars like they are infected with a killer flu virus.

Has this cycle of devaluation every happened before?

Yes. It has happened many times all over the world. This is a repeating pattern for failing economies. This economic phenomenon is nothing new.

As the dollar falls to new lows, the stock market recovers and stock prices rise because people around the world are dumping their dollars into whatever investment they can find, including the stock market. As security prices rise, the frantic American politicians jump up on their soapboxes claiming that rising market prices are proof their economy stimulus packages were working.

“Look,” they say. “The stock market is rising up again because our great economy is starting to recover. Our economic stimulus package is working its wonders! We have saved the American economy with our decisive actions!”

But in reality, they have saved nothing. In reality, your net worth is going down and you are thus getting further away from financial freedom: your dream of true financial freedom is receding in the distance and you don’t even know it!

I can show you how to attain your dream. Click HERE.

Why is it receding?

Because the actions of the American government are devaluing your net worth. Even though your stock portfolio may seem to be rising in value—in American dollars—you are actually growing poorer every day. This is because the cost of everything around you is going up up up.

At the store, the total amount you are paying for groceries is getting higher and higher. You may not notice it now, but you certainly will when a bag of groceries exceeds a thousand dollars! Or maybe a tank of gas rises to several thousand dollars!

I can show you how to avoid this vicious cycle. Click HERE.

Are these economic absurdities really possible?

Yes. This same scenario has played out in several countries, and many astute economists believe this will happen to America if the politicians don’t stop their out-of-control spending and turn the economy around.

It is unlikely they will do this, but I can help you attain financial freedom in the face of this terrible threat. Find out how by clicking HERE.

I use this example to illustrate the complexity of true financial freedom. It illustrates how difficult it is to even ascertain if we are on the right track to financial freedom. With all these changing variables—especially those we cannot control—it makes more sense than ever to understand fully every aspect of the problem, and to assert control over those variables that will help you gain financial freedom.

To see how to attain financial freedom. Click HERE.

Another way to look at the problem is as follows: Everyone has a personal money management “machine,” and some people maintain their machines better than others do.

To illustrate, consider those lucky people who win the lottery. We have all heard the many horror stories about them losing their winnings in a short period of time. Simply put, the lottery winners who end up losing all of their millions have dysfunctional maintenance routines for their personal money management machines, and these routines are plagued by poor habits. When they hit the lottery, all of this money falls in their lap and they do not know how to manage it.

Their machine is inadequate for the task.

It is as if someone gave them an aircraft carrier to manage, a gigantic metal ship that weighs millions of tons—a state-or-the-art war machine, a floating military base.

For these poor lottery winners, all that extra money is plopped in their laps, and they have no experience managing something like that.

Imagine yourself, one moment you are sitting in your old farm truck on a dirt road chewing on a grass blade and trying to figure out how you will pay your taxes next April, when all of a sudden, you are jerked from the cab and dropped into the control tower of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. You are suddenly in charge of a vehicle that takes several hours to make a ninety-degree turn because it is so big, a machine that houses a thousand military personnel, all of them ready to take orders on an instant’s notice.

After a day or so of this, many new captains might just give up, jump over the side, and swim back to Kansas.

In order to avoid ending up like these wayward souls, you will need to prepare yourself to attain your goal of financial freedom. The good news is that in order to reach financial freedom, you need to understand what is required to manage and control a much more complicated personal money management machine.

In my book, How To Reach Your Own Personal Financial Freedom, I show you exactly how.

To order my book, click HERE.

You will develop these skills slowly and no one is going to drop you out of the sky into the control tower of a nuclear aircraft carrier; rather, you will work your way up by following the guidelines outlined in my book, and by the time you reach financial freedom, you will know how to manage your own money.

Many people think they can simply work in their job, save a little money each month, and ultimately they will achieve financial freedom. If you are doing this, you will never make it because of the forces that are working against you, those that I have outlined above.

My book reveals all my secrets about the process of attaining true financial freedom—secrets you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

Sure you can hire someone to help you, but you will never learn how to do it yourself. Why? Because those who know the secrets of true financial freedom aren’t sharing those secrets. They are helping their clients but keeping the knowledge to themselves. But this is all changing now…
André Larabie

www.andrelarabie.com

Amidst all the turmoil, our elected officials are running around claiming the good times are coming back. They want us to believe that they have turned the economy around with their stimulus programs—that all we have to do is WAIT and things will improve.

But these smiling government bureaucrats have burned us too many times in the past…We know this simply isn’t true. The economy is very bad and it may be a very long time before it ever gets better.

How did it get this way?

In the past, we took advantage of what seemed like an endless supply of credit. We maxed out our credit cards and bought the biggest home the bank would approve a loan for. We lived under a tremendous burden of debt…and now it is all about to come crashing down…

Now, like never before, things must change…We must live within our means. If we fail to do so, we stand to lose everything we’ve worked so hard to acquire. Learn how to do this; order my book on personal debt management by clicking HERE.

Many people carry a large amount of debt but never really understand how it all works. They receive their monthly statements and pay the minimum amount required to make it to the next month’s payment without a penalty. But the real penalty is hidden and lurking dangerously below the surface. These people don’t understand the connection between interest rate and credit card balance. By making only the minimum payments while living beyond their means, many unsuspecting borrowers sink further and further into a bottomless ocean of debt. If they understood the simple relationship between balance and interest rate, they might be able to manage their situation better.

This is not surprising because this is how the banks and credit companies want it: They want you to trust them. They want you to stay dumb…They want you to focus only on the minimum payment each month.

Why?

Simple. Because THEY MAKE MORE MONEY!

Well don’t feel alone. Many people are hurting just like you. I know this because I’ve been working on the front lines of debt resolution and credit repair for many years, in both good economies and bad. And I can tell you that most people are just waiting for things to improve. They are waiting for the government to make their life better. I can also tell you that you don’t have to just sit there and suffer. You don’t have to wait for something that will probably never arrive…You Can Take Action Now! You can turn your life around. You can reduce your personal debt, repair your credit, and start living debt-free.

In my book, How To Reduce Your Personal Debt And Start Living Debt Free, I show you exactly how to do this, and much much more…

During my years working in the field of debt reduction, I have encountered just about every situation imaginable, and no matter what the economic climate, no matter how bad your particular credit situation, YOU CAN ALWAYS TAKE ACTION TO TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND. You can always live debt free. So don’t give up hope.

Don’t just sit there…

In my book, How To Reduce Your Personal Debt And Start Living Debt Free, I reveal all of my personal debt management secrets. I hold nothing back. Here it is…my many years of experience working on the front lines in the war against debt, all of it available in one easy-to-follow manual—methods you can use to reduce your personal debt and start living debt free!

In essence…
This is your own private guidebook to living debt free

Topics Covered

• Debt Management
• Credit Management
• Money Management
• Loans
• Credit Repair
• And much more…

For your convenience, I am offering all of my debt reduction experience in this book, and you can order it now by clicking HERE.

André Larabie

www.andrelarabie.com

After you set the stage, it is preferable to proceed with the process entirely in writing. You have planted the story seed and now you want to control the presentation with written communications.

By submitting a proposal in writing that appears to be a standard settlement letter, this reflects a financially desperate debtor who may not be able to keep his doors open, yet wants to try to “do the right thing” towards the creditor by paying as much as possible (as a matter of character).

These entities are not as motivated to put a lot of time into this particular collection account. Obviously, if the collection attorney or agency cannot realize a large fee, they will take a small fee and dispose of the case. It is clearly an issue of time management relative to the fee they earn.

In order to “sell the story” your position must present the personal side of your dilemma. This may seem contradictory to the preconceived notion that collection attorneys and agencies have no feelings and do not care about your problems. They are only interested in collecting the highest possible amount owed since their fee is going to be larger and that is how they make their money.

However, we know the power of story, so it should be used whenever possible.

André Larabie

www.andrelarabie.com

And while telephone negotiations are typically memorialized in writing for all parties concerned, it takes time to write up agreements, contracts, etc. It also takes time to make copies available to all of the parties by using US Mail.

That is why courier delivery services such as Fed-Ex, DHL and others have proliferated. They are a viable alternative to US Mail. Delivering documents through a courier service can be timelier, and the delivery times are often guaranteed.

However, faxing your offers is a better method for negotiating with your creditors and it allows for presenting the needed documents to the parties in a timely fashion. You might still want to call your creditors as mentioned in a previous chapter, but you now have an alternative method of communicating.

I have found the facsimile (fax) machine to be a very successful method of initiating the negotiation process. Fax machines have changed the landscape and the time required to effectively communicate information between people and businesses.

Some readers may ask, “What about email?”

My answer to you is that email is also a good method, but you might not have the email address of the business owner, and unless you have a scanner, you may find it difficult to send a signed settlement letter to your creditor or their representative. The logistics of digitizing documents, uploading them to the computer, accessing them with the email program and attaching them to the communications add another level of complexity that you should try to avoid. The negotiation process is difficult enough without introducing these additional procedures.

André Larabie

www.andrelarabie.com

At first this might seem to be a simple questions, but like many things in business, it is more difficult than it first appears when you get further into the details.

It turns out there are many ways to measure and define a “successful turnaround.“

You might say that keeping your business alive for at least one year means that you have executed a successful turnaround.

You might say that keeping it alive for five years is the definition.

You might say that converting your business from a nonprofitable to a profitable company is the definition.

Or you might say that it is something else.

I am going to define what I call a successful turnaround. A successful turnaround has two elements:

1) Your business has a positive cash flow
2) Your business is transformed to sustain a positive cash flow

I think you could reasonably add a third element to the above definition:

3) Your business has a well-defined plan to restructure and further stabilize

I think this last item reflects that it is not enough just to fix a few problems with the business and nudge your company back into positive cash flow territory. The fixes you implement to accomplish this may be only temporary; as a result, your company may inadvertently fall back into turnaround range. Therefore, further steps are necessary.

If—in addition to correcting your immediate problems and sustaining a short-term positive cash flow—you restructure your company SUCH THAT THE REVENUE STREAMS ARE MORE STABLE AND PREDICTABLE, then you will be on the right track to stabilizing your business and avoiding the need for a future turnaround.

André Larabie

www.andrelarabie.com

Since this creditor is number one on your list, without that supplier you cannot run the business. You must satisfy this debt or negotiate with them if you are to continue operating. If you don’t address this issue, then that creditor is not going to advance you any more credit and may even ask you to pay the balance before any more goods are delivered.

Some creditors may have a policy requiring you to pay 100% of the delivered invoice amount plus 10% of the total outstanding account balance. If your current balance with that creditor is $50,000 and the delivered invoice amount is $6,000 you would have to pay $11,000 ($6,000 for today’s delivery plus $5,000 against the overall debt) to get the delivery and keep operating.

But suppose for the sake of argument that you do not have the extra ten percent to give because you are really deeply in trouble.

What can you do?

You can negotiate with the creditor. But before you contact them, I can assure you—and I have learned this from 20 years of experience—that unless you have a deep understanding of your current financial situation and the particular approach required for this particular creditor, you really don’t know what to tell them and you do not want to call them until you do.

If you call them now, you will probably end up saying exactly the same thing that all of their other creditors say, and this will get you nowhere. So before you contact them, put together all the reasons you are in financial trouble, all the reasons you are in this turnaround situation—it might be that sales are down, or you might be delinquent with some bank loans and the bank is threatening repossession of assets, or a creditor is threatening with a lawsuit.

Write all of these reasons down.
- Does the business owe money to the IRS?
- How much does it owe to all the creditors?
- Does it owe money to the bank?
- Is it in default now and what is the status of the business?

Contacting your creditor and talking with them is the best approach, and here is why: there are many debtors out there like you who owe them money, and these debtors usually ignore the problem rather than being up front with the creditor. They are silent while you are contacting them directly. For this reason, they will view you in a more positive light. If you introduce you “story element” into the conversation, you will likely gain some sympathy from this creditor and this sympathy may help you in your negotiations later in the process.

André Larabie

www.andrelarabie.com

When you are negotiate on the telephone with attorneys, collection agencies, or collection attorneys, one may encounter an impersonal, or even rude attitude on the part of the person you are negotiating with. Do not take this personally. The reasons for this behavior are varied but can be reduced or even eliminated by negotiating in written form.

When one negotiates with a general practice attorney representing a creditor, this attorney is typically motivated to get the file “off their desk.” If a relatively minor amount of money is owed to the creditor, the attorney may not wish to invest a lot of time on the case since the fees will be nominal or non-existent. Many general practice attorneys have indicated that they are handling this case for their client because they represent the client’s other business interests and the attorney may be doing this task as “a favor” to their client, but would otherwise not be doing it.

In this scenario the attorney may indicate that if a reasonable settlement can be achieved, they would be willing to present it to their client. They may even advise the creditor to seriously consider the Settlement Proposal. This is especially true if the consultant representing the debtor, or the actual debtor, has properly set the stage to reflect the debtor’s deteriorating position. In effect, if you can “sell the settlement” to the attorney, the attorney will probably “sell it” to their client.

www.andrelarabie.com

andre@andrelarabie.com

As a business leader and entrepreneur, I think you know what I mean. This feature may also have something to do with leadership qualities or charisma or trust, but it is probably the most important characteristic because the last thing you want to do is bring in someone that your employees don’t like and have this person irritate the situation worse than it needs to be.

Advanced degrees are nice, but they are hardly the most important credential. Someone who has an MBA or a CPA will certainly be a benefit, but if they have no experience, those degrees will not add up to much. The turnaround professional you select should therefore have a fair amount of experience with turnarounds (successful ones), and if possible with turnarounds in your business sector.

Ideally, this person should be a self-started and a leader. They should be able to deliver an honest opinion even if it is one you may not want to hear. C-level experience is necessary, and a good understanding of accounting issues would be a huge benefit. This person must also confirm to you that they believe they can turn your company around if you hire them. They should also have a solid grounding in negotiations, and if possible in debt negotiation. Debt negotiation and reduction will play a vital role in a successful turnaround.

www.andrelarabie.com

andre@andrelarabie.com

This form of presentation allows you to take full control over the presentation.
One element of the Settlement Letter should personalize the problems you are facing. This element of the settlement letter allows you to “humanize” your plight and gain sympathy. This is where the “storytelling” aspect of the settlement negotiations comes into play. This section will be the “setup” to provide a solution to the problem(s) you are facing, as well as a justification for considering accepting the settlement offer. Therefore, the importance of this aspect of the settlement letter cannot be overstated and should be addressed with keen interest.

It is important to realize that negotiating directly with a creditor can be very different than negotiating with attorneys or collection agencies. When one business owner (the debtor) negotiates directly with another business owner (the creditor), the creditor may have a more personal understanding or sympathy to the situation. In fact, the creditor may indicate that they have experienced similar accounts payable problems at some point in the past. As such, the negotiations may be more congenial and personal. This makes personalizing the problem all the more effective.

Business owners usually have a personal awareness and understanding of the intrinsic value associated with “sweat equity,” “goodwill,” and other aspects of their business that make it personal to them and their customers. In other words, business owners have a more personal feeling about their business and may be more compassionate when it comes time to negotiate a settlement. Obviously, these negotiations may proceed more smoothly.

www.andrelarabie.com

andre@andrelarabie.com