Alternative Comics Needs Your Help!

Here is something I found that looks a lot like a blog page or a posting on a forum. Since I am not familiar with Alternative Comics I can't recommend you go out and buy his comics. But, I can relate to Jeff Mason's predicament - I have seen it happen to way too many businesses (large and small).

Posted: Tuesday, July 13
Posted By: Shawn Patty

Please buy our books from your local comic book store to help Alternative Comics survive!

Dear Comics Fans:

I’m Jeff Mason making a direct appeal to you, our faithful readers, in a time of serious financial difficulty. If you could find a way to buy some of our books listed below, you would greatly help in our time of financial crisis.

"Alternative Comics is suffering some very dire cash flow problems and I am turning to you for help. In the spring of 2002 our book trade distributor, LPC, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy owing Alternative Comics a lot of money. I had hoped that I could weather the storm by taking money from my savings and by borrowing on credit until receiving the agreed-upon 42% of what LPC owed us. Now over two years later, LPC is still in bankruptcy proceedings and I am completely out of savings and credit."
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It appears Jeff has a relatively small business and he probably is very good at what he does. Unfortunately, he may not have known that insurance is offered that protects businesses selling to other businesses against the inability of their customers to pay them (with a very reasonable premium). I am not at all saying that Jeff is not a good businessman.

While business credit insurance is widely used in Europe and it has been around in the United States for over 100 years, the acceptance of it (and even the knowledge that it exists) has just blossomed within the last ten to twenty years. Today, businesses that use it have discovered that there are reasons other than just the protection it offers to use business credit insurance (increased sales, improved working capital, credit guidance and other reasons).

Jeff, I wish you well in pulling through your predicament. IF and/or WHEN you do actually receive 42% of what is owed to you, consider yourself lucky. That is a lot more than unsecured creditors normally receive (based on what I have seen). Five or ten cents on the dollar (if anything at all) is not uncommon.

Sadly, over the 30+ years I have been involved in business credit, this is an all too familiar story.

For more information, go to Business Credit Insurance. (The site is being reconstructed right now but until it is ready, feel free to contact me.)