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New book tackles Australia's bankruptcy issues for small business
ALMOST 1000 business bankruptcies occur every month in Australia, according to business consultant and author Donna Stone.
She believes almost 12,000 business bankrupcies a year is an excessive number of businesses going under, and she said a frightening aspect was the inctreasing ease with which bankruptcies were occurring.
The issue and its long term ramifications for Australia form a core section of Ms Stone's new book, Stepping Stones to Business Excellence.
"Bury your head in the sand long enough and before you know it, you are trading insolvent and on the road to bankruptcy," Ms Stone, who heads up Stone Consulting said.
"Bankruptcy can have so many ongoing affects. For some it can mean losing your home and most certainly your business, it can destroy relationships and often it is so stressful, some end up losing their health to heart attacks or suicide.
"Of course if affects the creditors as they are never likely to see a red cent either – forget the old fashioned '10 cents in the dollar' concept of return."
Ms Stone said she felt the only current winner seems to be the insolvency companies.
"I have seen so many cases of bankruptcy, it’s scary and often the business owner could have done something about it, had they just taken action sooner," Ms Stone said.
“The most common reason a business fails is due to the lack of business expertise of the owner – they don’t know what they don’t know and before long are making poor choices, not driving their business in the right direction and generally not focussing on the important things."
After the success of her first two books, Ms Stone is once again sharing her practical and insightful tips with business owners, with Stepping Stones to Business Excellence aimed at those who want to maximise results and profit.
In simple to read, concise tips, Ms Stone aims to help identify the important issues business owners face in this uncertain economic climate and points out how they can make their business lucrative again.
The book has a complete chapter on bankruptcy and how to avoid it.
When asked what her biggest tip would be to avoid bankruptcy, Ms Stone said, “Every business owner should be looking at their figures very regularly and as soon as you start to get into trouble, get help.
"Talk to your business consultant or accountant immediately and start taking steps to get things on track straight away.
"Telling yourself that next week will be better is sheer foolishness, unless you take some action to make next week better."
Donna Stone is the founder and CEO of Stone Consulting, which provides bookkeeping and consulting services to businesses in Australia. She has more than 30 years experience in the finance industry.
Through Money Gemstones and her other books, e-books, audios and consulting companies, Ms Stone has offered insights to thousands of individuals and associations to help grow their wealth and keep their good standing.
The book retails for $29.95 and is available from www.donna-stone.com.au
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