Failing Business Heavily in Debt 2nd Chance Possible?

[Robert Half]

Individual debt can be discuss as one of the national day rally issues

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Dear Bro/Sis,

Its has been a tough time for me after failing my business 3 years back and landing myself in about 300k debts from banks, suppliers, contractors and relatives.

Being your own boss is tough and often lonely. I started on my own when I'm 31 and had no proper coaches or mentor to guide me. Nobody really cares how tough your life is. Most people will just think that being a boss means time and financial freedom.

I couldn't described how tough it was back then, I didn't know what gave me that strength to move on. I pluck up the courage to cut losses and go back being a salaried worker and earn a regular pay to service my debts. It was really a lonely journey. Even the my closest love ones could not understand why my debts are so complicated and can't seem to lessen even though i concientiously service my debts regularly.

I'm often left with a few hundred dollars for food and transport. I can't go on tours and i can't bring my family for at least a decent meal at a zhi char stall.

When my parents asked me how much i still owe and when are you able to pay up this auntie or that uncle, I'm just lost with no answers.

Back in my mind i thought to myself, i did not splurge on anything luxurious, neither do i risk my monies on 4D or Toto, i just receive my regular pay and within a few days i transfer them to respective accounts of my creditors.

Although these tough times really carved me into a much more mature and intelligent being, (at least this is how i feel and my new employer and colleagues thought) i really do not know when i will be able to make that break and return to a normal life. Being only a regular salaried employee i have limitations, the numbers and sums are not on my side.

I just keep telling myself to keep my cool and not get affected by comments from my close loved ones. They probably thought i have kept some savings for myself and not return more monies to my relatives who had helped me financially. Similarly in our small industry, suppliers and contractors do talk about me letting go my pte lid company and not being responsible for the debts owed to them.

I got so many lawyer letters of demand, debt collectors coming to my doorsteps. So much so like it was already part of my life. It wasn't something that any normal person should get use to, shouldnt it? I dealt with it. Paid up a bit, delayed a bit, employed delay tactics, or whatever i could to evade payments just to keep the few hundred bucks for my food and regular household spendings.

I was writing this in this forum hoping that what i wrote now can at least helped me remove the negative energies that is lingering in me for the past weeks. I live as simple as i could for the past 8 years, including those days when my business gone downhill. And i really dont know when these could end. Not in the next few years basing on math.

And for those who have read to this point, thank you for your time and attention

No problems,,,just do a business that takes deposit and transfer the money to another subsidiary in HK and declare bankruptcy,,,sure no problem one,,m&ds can do that for wedding business etc,,,,and Haj Tours,,Cina can definitely do it better...even Ozland can do such tricks too,..

Foodora enters into administration despite claims it was 'solvent'
By business reporter David Chau
Updated Sat at 11:17am

PHOTO: Foodora announced its withdrawal from Australia at the start of August. (Facebook: Foodora)
RELATED STORY: Foodora to pull out of Australia later this month
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Delivery food company Foodora has entered into voluntary administration, two weeks after it told the ABC it was "solvent".

Foodora had planned to "wind down its affairs in Australia in an orderly fashion and with the support of its parent company [Delivery Hero] to meet all known liabilities," Shelley Borstein of administrators Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants said in a statement.

However Ms Borstein said Foodora was unable to do so because it "has been faced with significant external challenges" which have "impeded the company's ability to implement a solvent wind-down of its affairs".

"To the best of its knowledge, all payments due to Foodora's creditors, in particular, its employees, partner restaurants and contract riders, have been met.

"Creditors will be updated on the financial affairs of the company at the first meeting of creditors, which is due to be held not before 29 August 2018."

Two weeks ago Foodora announced it would pull out of Australia by August 20.

At the time, a spokesperson from the company said the reason for its departure was to "shift [its] focus towards other markets where the company currently sees a higher potential for growth".

Foodora even told its workers in an email that it had sufficient means to continue paying them.

"As the business is solvent, shifts will be available as per normal until 10th August 2018," the email read.

Company facing two lawsuits
Foodora is currently being sued in two lawsuits — by the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) — which allege the company systematically underpays and exploits its delivery riders.

"The voluntary administration process offers the company essential breathing space, including a statutory moratorium on claims against the company," Ms Borstein said.

Even if Foodora were to defend the cases and lose, it appears unlikely it would be in a position to pay any penalties or compensation.

In a statement, the Fair Work Ombudsman said it had "learnt in the media this afternoon that Foodora Australia Pty Ltd has appointed an administrator".

"We are considering this development and its impact on our matter before the court."

The TWU criticised the Federal Government's handling of the issue, calling on the Government to reveal what approaches it had made to Foodora about how the company would address compensation claims made by riders.

The union said the appointment of an administrator at Foodora meant an unfair dismissal case taken by a former Foodora delivery rider, Josh Klooger, had been halted.

"We are demanding for the Federal Government to force Foodora to set up a fund to compensate riders for stolen wages," national secretary of the TWU Tony Sheldon said.

"This is a company with revenues of over $500 million. It cannot be allowed to exit Australia and leave our community ripped off."

Last month Icce Mejia, along with other Foodora riders, told the ABC about Foodora's "oppressive" policy which pits riders against each other in a "survival of the fittest" contest.

"I knew there was something fishy about the lame argument they were going to focus on new pursuits," Mr Mejia said.

"They probably can't afford all the pending trials so they had to close down."

Mr Mejia was demoted to the bottom of Foodora's hierarchy after he was hit by a car during a delivery, leaving him unable to work for weeks.

Foodora refused to pay for his medical expenses because they considered him an "independent contractor" — his own boss in other words — rather than an employee.

This competitive hierarchy is called "the Batch", and it ranks workers according to who delivers the most food, works the most weekend evening shifts, and puts in the longest hours.

Email reveals management were aware of legal risks
Even before the Fair Work Ombudsman sued Foodora for "sham contracting" — misclassifying employees as independent contractors — the company's senior management was aware of the legal risks it faced.

In a leaked internal email between Foodora managers seen by the ABC, a Foodora manager wrote in March that the riders' contracts were "concerning from a legal perspective".

That manager, who is also a former lawyer, wrote: "It is illegal to misrepresent an employment arrangement as an independent contract for the purposes of giving a company more control and power in making decisions over its workers."

"Our rider contracts have many key words in them that would blur the lines between employment and contractor arrangement. It is concerning.

"If a legal authority looked into this, there would be a chance they would consider the contracts as a breach and categorise them as 'sham contracts'.

"Penalties for this are up to $32,000 per contractor.

"If just one rider laid a successful case it would be devastating for us and could cause a dominos [sic] like effect with law suits."

The source who provided that email asked the ABC not to identify the Foodora staff who sent and received that internal email.

Foodora and Worrells have been contacted for comment.