Should I close the restaurant?

[Viki.W]

Hey all,

I am in that scary place now where I can't afford to pay for anything. As posted before I am going to sell my business to offer a full and final to my creditors. The only thing is, I haven't made enough money last week to pay bills this week, it has been so quiet, do I just let them default?

I have meeting with bank manager next Tuesday but now I wonder whether I should just close, because without ordering supplies, I am going to run out of food and drink, but I don't want to order any on credit but I haven't any cash to buy from different suppliers now!

I know I should try and keep everything running so it looks good to a potential buyer but I'm so scared of what is happening, I've never had this before (used credit to pay credit in the past!). I realise I have posted this kind of question before but I can't sleep and I feel so sick about it all. What do I do, close and get a job hoping it will sell or carry on as best I can? If I close and everything defaults, what would happen then? So sorry for sounding like a raving looney. v.w

[MelanieGiles]

Hi there vw

You should certainly not carry on trading if your future profits will be insufficient to meet the ongoing costs of running the business. But I would wait until you have had valuations carried out - and make sure that these are done on a going concern and a forced sale basis.

If the restaurant opens every evening, why not close it on the quiet nights, with a view to maximising profit at the end of the week and weekends. This would give you a couple of days to job hunt and to plan for the future, but keep the business open to make it attractive to a purchaser.

[Viki.W]

Thanks Melanie, you always make me feel better. I was just so upset today as not only did everyone pay by card last week, which means I have to wait until end of week to receive funds, we have been so quiet this weekend. Last Easter was quite busy. I can't wait until thursday when hopefully the valuers can give me some idea of what I'm aiming for. Enjoy the rest of your bank holiday. v.w