Cock of the walk...

Piers Morgan, the 'love him or hate him' TV impresario and former editor of the Mirror newspaper, has the following description on his Twitter profile 'One minute you are cock of the walk, the next a feather duster'.

I can attest to the validity of that statement in the most real and stark way, my company just ceased trading, it's not a new or surprising story in the current economic environment, we were simply one of the fifteen companies closing down every day in Ireland in recent months.

Cash is more than tight for all businesses at the moment, but if you are running a small business and cash runs dry, you find yourself in trouble very very quickly. But hey, this is not just another blog about the economic situation, there are many tales of woe out there and I am not the wallowing type.
When a company goes bust there are lots of obvious casualties, staff lose their jobs, creditors are left short, taxes are often behind in terms of payment and the companies who rely on you to buy their goods and services are left with a hole in their revenue stream which they need to fill. When a company goes to the wall there are no winners, even good competitors don't like to see you go bust as they know that competition keeps everyone on their toes.

I am also ever mindful of the startling statistics on suicide these days, particularly amongst middle aged men, I can only vaguely imagine the heartache and desolation these people must feel before they end their lives and the anguish and sadness felt by their family and friends. I am pretty sure some of these unfortunate souls are victims of the current economic meltdown and the unbearable pressure of losing jobs and businesses, it's a sad state of affairs. Losing your job or your business is a traumatic event in your life, some people can handle it but some people simply cannot come to terms with the seemingly untenable situation they find themselves in.

Yes indeed, losing one's job or business is a serious topic and one which is becoming a familiar theme at this time. What has really struck me though, and the reason for this latest blogpost, is the seismic shift which occurs in your life when the shutters come down on your business. Times were tough in our business and every day was a struggle to survive, but we were still a business, a coterie of people working together to keep things on as even a keel as possible, a working family who spent 8 hours of every day trying to reinvent themselves and the company to cope with the visceral reality of shrinking margins, longer credit terms to customers and a generally abysmal business landscape. Now please don't get me wrong, there are plenty of small businesses out there who are thriving at this time, and to them I say well done......and please watch that cash!

When you are running a small business you enjoy a certain status, you are captain of the ship, the boss, the gaffer, the main man, you command a certain respect from customers, staff and suppliers, your word is weighty and your opinion is sought after and highly regarded, you are an important person, you ultimately call the shots and when you talk people sit up and listen. And the funny thing is that you don't really realise these things until it all suddenly stops, you sometimes don't value the status and respect you enjoy until it has literally vanished.

I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to start the process of winding up the company, the most arduous part of this task being the actual packing up of all of the company stock and assets and the organising of all of your works chattels to be transported to a warehouse in Finglas for the eventual liquidator to deal with. It all sounds very dramatic but in reality there is no drama, as you carry yet another computer screen down two flights of stairs (how many bloody PC screens does a small company need?) and your head grows dizzy from cling wrapping pallets, your mind floats back a few days to when you really were cock of the walk, when someone answered the phone and screened your calls for you, when suppliers wanted to do business with you, when customers wanted to pay you and when your staff wanted to dazzle you with their brilliance and make you happy that you hired them!

And as you pack away the books and brochures from the shelf behind the desk in that large office you once held dominion over, you inadvertently knock off the dust that is lying there, you pause to contemplate the huge change that has just taken place in your working life and it is precisely at this point that you remember Piers Morgan's words and you realise that you now are..................... a feather duster!