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Spongebob

Spongebob

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Dec 9, 2008
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Please please PLEASE can we have a forum specifically dealing with insolvency and how to deal with it.

The vast majority of businesses end in failure and how people cope with this is vital in enabling them to dust themselves off and try again. Currently questions about insolvency are spread around several forums and it really is time that there was one place that people could go to for help.

Cheers
Bob
 
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Just flagging this up with Yiuwin and the rest of the team. I don't suppose you could show us a few links about the kind of questions / threads you think could be grouped under that heading could you?
 
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Hi all,

I've very receptive to this - only considerations would be how the forum actually operates, i.e. I would expect business owners would be reluctant to disclose in any public forum that their businesses are struggling or in danger of folding, particularly with clients and suppliers potentially catching wind and compounding an already difficult situation.

Happy to hear thoughts on how we could run this as a useful and constructive area of the forums.

Cheers
 
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I think this is a good idea. My suggestion (if it's possible) would be to make the insolvency section Anonymous. You wouldn't post under your own username thus enabling you to get the correct advice without fear of customers or other users finding out about your troubles. To give it a more professional feel I would suggest asking one of the debt charities to join the forum and let them offer advice too.
 
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Good idea, can't imagine how many threads there are spread all over the place, most of which contain some reference to the "SpongeBob plan"
I don't think it needs to be anonymous, it hasn't stopped people posting questions about insolvency so far.
 
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I must be missing something here. People already post about their insolvency problems without worrying about anonimity.
 
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Hi Kelvin1950, not missing anything :) just a consideration to make if we were to create and launch a dedicated forum. More than anything, we need to be make such people consider the consequences before posting potentially sensitive info.
 
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Believe me, when your business is going down the pan, the consequences are easily recognised.

Just feel it's a retrograde step to use anonymous log-ins. Open to abuse, especially when it's already proven as to be unnecessary.
 
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Anonymity isn't really the answer, my thoughts are perhaps along the lines of making the forum non-indexed so that if a client or supplier searched the company name, the threads wouldn't be shown in search pages - this in itself has it's own issues, specifically around making the good advice and debate widely available..
 
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kelvin1950 said:
I must be missing something here. People already post about their insolvency problems without worrying about anonimity.
Click to expand...

Yes true, but how many don't post on here because they want to stay anonymous? Nobody knows, so only one way to find out.
 
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Maybe there could be a sticky suggesting that anyone posting to seek advice should set up a new account without any personal details?
 
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bbbbb said:
Maybe there could be a sticky suggesting that anyone posting to seek advice should set up a new account without any personal details?
Click to expand...

I think this would be abused in all fairness, it'd also bloat our data management from this end.
 
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Yiuwin Tsang said:
I think this would be abused in all fairness, it'd also bloat our data management from this end.
Click to expand...
OK then how about a sticky warning posters that any personal info would be searchable so that they could "clean" their profile if necessary ?
 
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Multiple accounts are something we don't really allow, just because crossover can become a nightmare. There are ways of managing privacy that could be useful though - for example, making the forum unviewable unless you're a registered member. Other limits are also possible but then it gets into post count / full member territory, which may harm the helpfulness of an area like this.

What do people think about this as a system though (just a suggestion at this stage but we can test this stuff out easily):

  • New forum for Insolvency topics
  • Forum title is always visible
  • Forum contents are only visible to logged-in members - this prevents spidering from search engine bots and casual looks from unregistered users. There's still a small risk involved in that anyone can create an account to view the area but it makes stumbling upon it harder. The only downside is that it's then harder to find for new users and news of it would have to be spread by other means like social media and word of mouth.
 
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Most people use pseudonyms as usernames anyway so I really don't see the problem.

Hundreds of people have already asked for advice on insolvency on the accountancy and legal forums. I see no reason why an insolvency forum needs any special privacy protection. It is up to posters to make sure that no identifying details are stored in their personal profile if they want to remain anonymous.

Most posters asking for such advice are newcomers to the forums and will not put personal details on their profile anyway.

It is important that a general Google search should throw up threads from the forum. This is how most people find us!

All that is perhaps needed is a gentle warning about posting potentially embarrassing details without the viel of anonymity.

I seem to have retained my anonymity quite successfully for several years while posting all manner of potentially embarrassing or incriminating details!

The only person who knows my true identity is my golfing buddy Alan Price, and no-one has ever seen us in the same room together!
 
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Being honest, most people who ask for insolvency advice are new members, existing members are less likely to ask as they are aware of the risks.

It's definitely a good idea to hide it from Google and have a sticky with the risks etc but it will help keep all the posts in one place as they currently get posted in accounts, legal and hr.
 
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Faevilangel said:
Being honest, most people who ask for insolvency advice are new members, existing members are less likely to ask as they are aware of the risks.

It's definitely a good idea to hide it from Google and have a sticky with the risks etc but it will help keep all the posts in one place as they currently get posted in accounts, legal and hr.
Click to expand...

What 'risks'?

So long as a poster has no identifying details in their personal profile and posts under a pseudonym no-one knows who they are. Some smart-arse might counter that their IP address can be traced but the logical thing to do then would simply be to go to the local coffee shop or McDonalds to make the post.

It's all all a non-issue.

Let's just get an insolvency forum up and running,
 
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Spongebob said:
What 'risks'?

So long as a poster has no identifying details in their personal profile and posts under a pseudonym no-one knows who they are. Some smart-arse might counter that their IP address can be traced but the logical thing to do then would simply be to go to the local coffee shop or McDonalds to make the post.

It's all all a non-issue.

Let's just get an insolvency forum up and running,
Click to expand...
I agree that an insolvency forum would be beneficial if only for the spongebob plan to be a sticky and easily found. However there is little doubt that some new members join to ask about insolvency, use an anonymous name and still include their real details in their profile possible because they don't know that it can be accessed. I just think it would be a useful sticky to point out that profiles can be accessed particularly as some posters include information in their posts which would be detrimental to them
 
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Henry Osadzinski said:
J I don't suppose you could show us a few links about the kind of questions / threads you think could be grouped under that heading could you?
Click to expand...

Here's just a few from the last month or so. There have been hundreds of such threads over the last few years. Putting them together in one forum would offer a very valuable resource.

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/t...mpany-owing-vat-corp-tax.313371/#post-2340115

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/t...d-co-with-only-tax-debts.313353/#post-2339906

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/cant-afford-liquidation.312680/#post-2339242

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/t...-company-in-a-state-help.311403/#post-2329081

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/best-way-to-wind-up-ltd-company.310080/

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/t...to-close-down-a-business.309387/#post-2319133
 
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I have no idea what I'm talking about here so just ignore if I'm talking nonsense but...

is it technically feasible to just have an 'anonymous' button on the submit form somewhere, so a member could make an individual post within a thread anonymous. All you've got to do your end then is hide the poster's identity for that one post.
No multiple accounts.
You know who they are, nobody else does.
And we can all ask embarrasingly stupid questions without fear of ridicule.
 
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Spongebob said:
The only person who knows my true identity is my golfing buddy Alan Price, and no-one has ever seen us in the same room together!
Click to expand...

That's not quite true. The barman at a certain golf club in the East Midlands has seen us together on a couple of occasions!
 
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I think a dedicated insolvency forum would be a good idea, particularly since I see things becoming very busy on the insolvency front as we come out of recession. The insolvency market is currently very quiet - statistics are almost down to pre-recession levels - however there are lots of businesses bumping along the bottom whose owners are in deep despair and can see no way out: they need our support now. Many of these businesses will fall by the wayside as the economy heats up and their owners will be looking to forums like this to help them through the process.

And Henry Osadzinski, if you are looking for posts on insolvency, just search for posts by Spongebob and myself. I think one or other of us has posted on just about every relevant thread in the last two-three years.
 
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Glad you happened along Alan, and I'm pleased you agree with the idea of a dedicated insolvency forum. Like you, I see many businesses who have been hanging on by their fingertips through the recession but for whom the future is still very bleak.

The support and advice that you, me, and others can offer through this forum is going to be invaluable for many business people and will hopefully enable them to emerge relatively unscathed to do battle again.
 
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I think its a great idea I have no intention of making use of such services as those days have gone :eek:
I am fascinated by the subject however and for those that require the help the section would be good . Some of us sweep this issue under carpet and pretend it does not happen but it is in fact a fact of life and insolvency is a billion pound industry in this country .
 
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There are dozens if not hundreds of insolvency threads on here already. I second what others have said - lets have a dedicated forum with the same settings as all the other forums and maybe just a warning message at the top to remind folk that this is publicly viewable/searchable info. The information given by Spongebob, Alan and others has clearly been invaluable to many over the years, and it makes sense to have it all in one place.

I've not been on here in ages and am surprised we don't have an insolvency forum already, as it was mentioned AGES ago. There's not even a Spongebob sticky!
 
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I'm glad that's been agreed - as it's a very good idea...

With a separate forum for people to view and search easily, maybe the good folk on here (like Alan and Spongebob) can help early enough to save some of those who will need help - and some of that will happen next month when VAT returns, Self assessment tax, and the quarterly rents need paying...

But no pressure guys!;)
 
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Geoff T said:
I'm glad that's been agreed - as it's a very good idea...

With a separate forum for people to view and search easily, maybe the good folk on here (like Alan and Spongebob) can help early enough to save some of those who will need help - and some of that will happen next month when VAT returns, Self assessment tax, and the quarterly rents need paying...

But no pressure guys!;)
Click to expand...

I think I'm going to be busy in the New Year!
 
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Geoff T said:
. . . if you're in early enough, I know you'll stand a better chance of a more positive outcome:)
Click to expand...

Exactly. In my company we save all or part of the jobs in nearly a third of the formal insolvency cases we deal with - this ignores those situations where we give informal advice or work with businesses and their other advisers outside of a formal process. In many cases, if we had been instructed even three months earlier, we would have had a much simpler task and the rescue rate would be significantly higher.
 
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The anonymity discussion is a red herring. People have made thousands of posts over the years about insolvency in one way or another. Some anonymous and others not. It's the posters choice.

All that is needed is a sub-forum perhaps in finance and accounting headed up Insolvency and we can direct posters to it.

I don't think there's any need to nanny people into what they can say and can't say and just have some useful stickies in that sub forum
 
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I recon that there are people crying out to discuss their problems, with 10 plus insolvencies under my belt I have well and truly been there, done that. It comes with the territory of investing in start-ups.
Too much mystery and fear makes people go on with a non working idea instead of chucking it in and starting again.
 
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