Navy Brat on TV

[MANORVILLE]

NavyBrat on CNBC

IMHO

Dianne rocked the house ! Nothing short of shoot from the hip, real, honest, and to the point !

How many of us actually can afford to wear our feelings on the sleeve ?

Di nicely done, on your end !

My signature quote, taken from Ronald Reagan, seems important at this point, maybe just to me , but probably, in reality, to all.

There is no light at the end of the tunnel, and no silver lining. Either we gear up or my bet is that 50% or better, of the piece of the pie that we now have, will be gone in 5 years or less. We cannot exist on that breadcrumb. I pray that I am wrong, yet my insight has been 90% or better these past 3 years.

Now is the time to decide who and what we are, and what we bring to the table, as no one is waiting for us to make the move.

Do we have options ? Yeah we do !

Do we choose to make those options a reality ?

Few , if any, have anything to fall back on. Many have made this business their dream. Are we beyond dreams ? Is this really where we have aspired to ?
I think not !

The time for redundant posts and armchair action has passed it's peak !:headbang:

 

[MANORVILLE]

Already been there

I am surprised no one has thought of you getting a sugar daddy!

Or even get paid for phone sex after hours. $4.99 a minute is a good income.

Aside from that you did not have to go on CNBC with all the advice you gt for free on here.

Best wishes
Luc
P.S. I can't be a sugar daddy, I am a florist also.

That would be her calling, wench that she is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL

 

[Carrieann]

Dianne, what can be added to the advise you have already been given here on fc?

You should be so proud of yourself. You have been in business for so long, you raised your daughter, very well, you had the courage to seek help when your over your head. You will get through this, one way or another, the fact that you are asking for help and weighing the options tells me that. Your not just ignoring your problems, your ready to go out and do something about it.

I agree the advise given on the program wasn't thought out well. They needed to take some time to learn a little more about this industry. And the stab about being a florist should be your hobby and the one about people buying chocolate instead of flowers was unprofessional at best on their part.

There is no doubt in my mind that you will figure this out. You have the support and advise of some really talented and smart people here in this fc community.

 

[Connie]

Dianne you were fabulous! Elegant with charm and matter-of-factness.

The advice you were given on the program was disappointingly out of touch, but the advice given here has been awesome for you and for many others of us. We do have many wise and thoughtful folks here.

I have no additional suggestions for you, but I wish you could come down and we'd go to the beach and just walk, relax, read, talk, listen, find calmness.

You know that we care very much about you, Dianne!

 

[Palms]

Dianne, as the others have said, you came across great, just great.

They came across as complete know it alls who actually knew very little. Why would you advise someone to fold their business and then become a consultant in that very business? They clearly did not do any research on our industry and when he mentioned the chocolates i wanted to stab him in the eye with a blunt fork!! How dare he assume what consumers are doing with their money. I hate when people say "most people" like they are an authority. arghhhhhh!!

In fact, woman i know are on some kind of diet and when i mention chocs to men, they say oh no she is on a diet, she would kill me...

Dianne, I hope you reach the right decision soon, you have had an awful year so far and i just want it to get better for you. If folding your shop and working for someone else will ease pressure and make you feel better then it is the right step..

There is more to life as you well know and you are not a failure...

Take care and hopefully you will get lots of attention from this and things may start to look up for you

 

[Connie]

I hate when people say "most people" like they are an authority. arghhhhhh!!

Yeah! As if "most people" know anything anyway! And, besides, how do they know what most people think, know, believe! Makes me want to scream at the TV. "Most people"--what a cop-out! Who are "most people" anyway?!?

I'm climbing off this soapbox now...........

 

[lori042499]

Dianne, great show, I do hope they help you...although, the advice wasn't great...I think they did give you some stuff to research...So many of us just assume that because most flower shops cannot support those kind of jobs, that they aren't out there....but there may be and you may be able to look for them...just because you yourself do not have the cash to do this type of consulting for your own biz, never means that someone else may not want to invest in you to consult them...always remember that...I have taken a business running in the red for many years into the black and was paid ok to do it, then tried it with my own and may very well give it up and go back to doing it for others....it is not bad advice if you can find the kind of work at the pay you want...


As far as your daughter and her school loans go....they are correct..she can either help you now or help you later...The bigger jump you get on paying those down now the easier it will be to help you later....I was thrown into helping my mom last year when my dad died...don't know if we did the right thing then, don't know if we ever do the right thing, but we were left with 150,000 dollars ahouse in serious need of repair, bills up the wazoo and me having a struggling biz and my husband supporting me,,,we do what we need to do for family until we have to change those ways, I am sure you will come to an ideal situation for you and your daughter that fits well for both....

When it all comes right down to it...it is us that have to make the decisions on our businesses, and we make those decisions based on what we feel in right for us at the time...people can guide you, and you can chooseto trust them or not, it basically is your decision...sometimes, money people just do not understand how our businesses work...how can they when most of us can't even get it...

 

[Palms]

Yeah! As if "most people" know anything anyway! And, besides, how do they know what most people think, know, believe! Makes me want to scream at the TV. "Most people"--what a cop-out! Who are "most people" anyway?!?

I'm climbing off this soapbox now...........

I just got down off mine and now i wanna go walking on that beach with you chatting and relaxing, it sounded soooo nice

 

[makescents]

I missed the show - But if there is a consultant job out there for $60K a year... Hello! Here I am!

 

[Flowerchatter03]

Question.....

Dianne, did they get a complete list of your assets and liabilities? Did they have all your financials prior to calling you on the phone? Did they have a least the past 5 years of records to see the overall reality of the business?

I'd be interested in your answers prior to giving any opinion about the show.

Thanks bunches!!!

 

[NavyBrat]

Dianne, did they get a complete list of your assets and liabilities? Did they have all your financials prior to calling you on the phone? Did they have a least the past 5 years of records to see the overall reality of the business?

I'd be interested in your answers prior to giving any opinion about the show.

Thanks bunches!!!

Yes...CNBC had every financial document available to them...even the past 10 years of the shop's financials. That's what was especially so disappointing to me.

Just a note...I am going to respond to every e-mail and PM message I have received. Bear with me...my phone is ringing off the hook and I am mentally drained at the moment. I have a lot more to share and will post again soon.

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

SBA Loan Information

Diane:

here is the SBA information I referenced in my earlier post.

Go to: www.SBA.gov

At that website, click on home page title for "2009 Recovery Act."
The loans are available thru 9-30-2010 --- or until the money is gone, if given out sooner. The money is interest free to the Borrower, for the lifetime of the loan. Proceeds are dispensed over a 6 month period. Loan repayments begin 12 months after the last disbursement is made. Repayments can be made over a 5 year period.

The second program is the SBA Microloan program. This has been around for quite a while. Again, Up to $35,000 is available to be loaned. (this is one of their regular loan programs, so no time limit attached for applying. This one is NOT interest free.....the money is dispensed directly to YOU all at once. Average loan here is about $13,000.

Both of these types of loans are provided thru your local banks & lending institutions who are SBA lenders.

I have tried to attach the files of these two programs -- but was unsuccessful. (you know me, the technically challenged one!)

Hope this might help you!

Cheryl

 

[Sher]

I went to a local meeting that focused on the SBA program loan of 35 grand..when I had a chance to talk to the SBA rep, I was asked...did your compnay make a profit in the last three years....I told her "no" as we had bought stuff, like vehicles, coolers etc...her response was " well that leaves you out, now doesn't it"., turned around and walked away...that was it for me asking for any govt assistance.
Sher...not trying to be negative but I think that the program is not the panacea that they would like us to believe.

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Sher:
I did not mean to imply to Dianne or anyone else that this SBA program was Manna from heaven.

It is a possible resource which may help someone out there.

Also, the information your person gave you was incomplete, at best. They look for a profit in 2 of the last 4 or 5 years.....and are willing to accept reasonable explanations as to why you did not make a profit last year (for instance).

Cheryl

 

[RWK]

Diane........I know I haven't e-mailed or PM'd........but I want you to know I am thinking of you and will be continuing thinking of you.

 

[Sher]

Sher:
I did not mean to imply to Dianne or anyone else that this SBA program was Manna from heaven.

It is a possible resource which may help someone out there.

Also, the information your person gave you was incomplete, at best. They look for a profit in 2 of the last 4 or 5 years.....and are willing to accept reasonable explanations as to why you did not make a profit last year (for instance).

Cheryl

]Didnt take that way..I was just totally disgusted with the response. Perhaps I should have tried again but it was didfficult in the setting and the young lady was quite a snippet.
For some of my friends in other businesses, SBA has helped..this one program just seems to have some very tight restraints.
You know I love your input girl...
Sher

 

[Flowerchatter03]

Dianne, here is my 2 cents for what it is worth. My opinion only and everyone has them.

Since the financial advisors had reviewed your information over the past ten years, they gave you their opinion about what you should do financially. What financial advisors do is review the information provided to them and give you a projection of your options. While it might have been hard to hear their response, they gave you valid choices. They are not, however, business advisors. Business advisors will take your information and give you advise on how to run your business more efficiently, cut out waste, marketing ideas, etc. Financial advisors will look at the hard facts of money and give you advise based on that.

I am a Suze Orman fan. I watch her show every week and I can honestly say that she would have probably gave you the same advise. She is not a fan of filing bankruptcy either but there are times that it is the only choice.

While I understand you not wanting to file the bankruptcy, the cc companies don't give folks like you much choice. They are charging 3 or 4 times the interest rate than banks do for mortgages. While I realize that banks are counting on the value of a home and its property, there really isn't a guarantee that they will get their money back. The cc companies are partly to blame by shelling out vast amounts of credit and then when someone is in trouble, they don't want to make any type of compromise. Well, that's the chance they take for giving out such large amounts of unsecured debt.

As for their comment about saving $22,000 every year in a retirement account, if you are currently paying $5,000 each month for cc'd and you would get rid of that debt via bankruptcy, you would no longer be paying the $5,000 multiplied by 12 months is $60,000. $22,000 is about a little more than a 1/3 of what you are paying now. Would this senario be easy? No way. If $22,000 is not reachable, then what about 1/2? This would be 1/5 of what you are paying in cc'd debt.

Regarding the part of being a consultant in the floral industry, there are several types of consultants. It doesn't necessarily mean that you would be advising other floral businesses how to run a successful shop. If you were to close/sell your shop, you might want to contact other shops within a certain mileage and offer to work during other staff's vacations or holidays or substitute manager. Perhaps a wedding consultant who would only do their wedding work. As a consultant/outside contract laborer, more than likely you would get paid more by the hour as the other shops would not be paying workmans compensation, taxes and insurance for having you there. While they might pay their staff $10 an hour, they might be willing to pay you $20 as temporary contracted help.

And lastly, I know that the bit about no longer helping your daughter financially was a tough pill to swallow, most professional financial advisors would have given you the same information, including Suze Orman. It's kind of like the old saying that you cannot help someone who is drowning when you are drowning too. In the situation of a plane emergency, you take care of your mask before you help others with theirs. Children want to know that their parents are okay and that they won't need to worry about them in their old age as far as finances. Teach her what not to do so that she doesn't find herself in the situation you are facing.

Dianne, you are a smart woman and I know that you will do the right thing for yourself and your family. You are the only one who can decide if God's annointing is still on your business or if he is finished with having you there and wants you to do something else. Your friend here are rooting for you no matter what you decide.

Peace and prosperity be multiplied unto you!!!