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HIGHLAND PARK
,
IL
,
September 27, 2006
--
In a sign that the slowing
U.S.
economy may be catching up
with small businesses, a
leading debt-management firm
says that this year it
achieved its first $1-million
in debt savings for its
small-business clients earlier
than in any other year in its
43-year history.
Performance
Source Inc, based in suburban
Chicago
, reported that the milestone
was reached this year in the
second week of May, instead of
July as usual. The
fact that PSI has not
advertised or added staff this
year further suggests that
small companies increasingly
are struggling with their
debts.
For
over a year now, rising
interest rates and fuel prices
have hit these companies’
cash flow and profitability
especially hard, causing some
to fall behind in paying their
loans, leases, suppliers, and
other creditors, as well as
amounts owed in judgments and
lawsuits.
All of these debts are
the focus of PSI’s
negotiating efforts for
clients.
Another
reason PSI reached $1-million
in savings earlier this year
is because larger firms are
now choosing to use its
services.
“Bigger companies
tend to have more debt,”
notes PSI President Jim Herst,
“and these companies are
discovering professional,
third-party debt negotiators,
such as ourselves, as a
solution to their problems.”
Instead of
consolidating a client’s
debts, PSI deals with each
creditor individually,
negotiating settlements which
typically reduce the
client’s total debt load by
up to 80%.
PSI works on a
client-approved contingency
basis as its sole source of
revenue.
It’s
no surprise that small
businesses increasingly are
turning to debt management.
The new Bankruptcy
Abuse Prevention and Consumer
Protection Act, which went
into effect in October 2005,
places strict new limits on
disposal of debts, both
business and personal.
“The downside of this
law is that it makes it harder
for people to get out from
under business debts,” says
Lloyd Chapman, president of
the American Small Business
League.
Small
businesses are vital to the
U.S.
economy. According
to the U.S. Small Business
Administration (“Small
Business by the Numbers,”
June 2004), small firms
represent more than 99% of all
employers and 50% of the
private-sector workforce.
They provide about 75%
of the net new jobs added to
the economy each year, and more
than half of the non-farm
private gross domestic
product, or a GDP of roughly
$6-trillion.
About
Performance Source Inc.
Since
1963, Performance Source Inc.
(PSI) has helped small
businesses nationwide improve
their cash flow, and in many
cases avoid bankruptcy, by
negotiating with their
creditors to reduce their
business debts by as much as
80%.
PSI has helped
thousands of clients save tens
of millions of dollars and
satisfy their creditors
without borrowing additional
money.
Under the company’s
risk-free process, clients
decide which payables they
want PSI to negotiate, they
approve (or decline) all
proposed settlements in
advance, and owe PSI nothing
if a settlement is not reached
or not accepted.
And because the company
also handles all contact with
clients’ creditors, clients
are able to focus on growing
their businesses.
For more information
about PSI, please call
800/883-5080 or visit www.performancesourceinc.com.
Performance
Source Inc. is not affiliated
with Performance Source II,
Ltd.
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