Redundancy
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My company is in the process of disappearing off the face of the earth. Most of the employees (including me) have been made redundant while the administrators are frantically trying to sell whatever is leftover and at this point it is not looking good. I feel genuinely sorry for our current customers which includes hospitals. They'll have to spend loads of money to replace our solution. While discussing this situation with a friend, she gave me the idea that it might be worth looking into starting a new company with some of my ex-colleagues and getting service contracts from those existing customers. Now I've been a lowly software developer so far, so I'm not aware of the practicalities of such a plan. I don't even know enough to ask the right questions. Does anyone here at CP have any advice as to how I'd go about doing something like this in the UK? I have a lot of questions going through my head including: 1) Is it a good idea to start something like this in the current economic climate? 2) It's probably impossible to get a loan from a bank, so can we get one of the old company's partners or customers to buy the IP for us? I guess this is all a moot point if big name companies are standing by waiting for the administrators to get really desperate before buying up everything in a fire sale. P.S - DD, do you know if there's anyway I can make a living from solving crytic crossords? :)
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My company is in the process of disappearing off the face of the earth. Most of the employees (including me) have been made redundant while the administrators are frantically trying to sell whatever is leftover and at this point it is not looking good. I feel genuinely sorry for our current customers which includes hospitals. They'll have to spend loads of money to replace our solution. While discussing this situation with a friend, she gave me the idea that it might be worth looking into starting a new company with some of my ex-colleagues and getting service contracts from those existing customers. Now I've been a lowly software developer so far, so I'm not aware of the practicalities of such a plan. I don't even know enough to ask the right questions. Does anyone here at CP have any advice as to how I'd go about doing something like this in the UK? I have a lot of questions going through my head including: 1) Is it a good idea to start something like this in the current economic climate? 2) It's probably impossible to get a loan from a bank, so can we get one of the old company's partners or customers to buy the IP for us? I guess this is all a moot point if big name companies are standing by waiting for the administrators to get really desperate before buying up everything in a fire sale. P.S - DD, do you know if there's anyway I can make a living from solving crytic crossords? :)
Perhaps you should accept your fate with this defunct company. Until you secure alternate employment, register yourself as unemployed, at least you will have some funds coming in while you await receipt of whatever redundancy payments. The Administrators MAY eventually get around to paying you some level of redundancy pay (nothing here would be guaranteed), but you as a mere former employee are relatively low down in the pecking order of any liquidated assets. By all means feel sorry for this defunct company's customers, but there is not very much you can do about the situation. You could always ask the administrators what assets and their prices that are being sold off. But the costs to acquire such assets, even at knock-down prices, are likely to be beyond your means, even beyond the joint means of all of your former colleagues. In the here and now of present financial insecurity, in my opinion, it is not the right time to "go it alone - with or without former colleagues".
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My company is in the process of disappearing off the face of the earth. Most of the employees (including me) have been made redundant while the administrators are frantically trying to sell whatever is leftover and at this point it is not looking good. I feel genuinely sorry for our current customers which includes hospitals. They'll have to spend loads of money to replace our solution. While discussing this situation with a friend, she gave me the idea that it might be worth looking into starting a new company with some of my ex-colleagues and getting service contracts from those existing customers. Now I've been a lowly software developer so far, so I'm not aware of the practicalities of such a plan. I don't even know enough to ask the right questions. Does anyone here at CP have any advice as to how I'd go about doing something like this in the UK? I have a lot of questions going through my head including: 1) Is it a good idea to start something like this in the current economic climate? 2) It's probably impossible to get a loan from a bank, so can we get one of the old company's partners or customers to buy the IP for us? I guess this is all a moot point if big name companies are standing by waiting for the administrators to get really desperate before buying up everything in a fire sale. P.S - DD, do you know if there's anyway I can make a living from solving crytic crossords? :)
Good for you in thinking of lateral approaches. If you are willing to give some time you can test the waters to see if your ideas has legs.
tufkap wrote:
It's probably impossible to get a loan from a bank, so can we get one of the old company's partners or customers to buy the IP for us?
Rather than buying the existing IP, why not consider leasing it. See if first of all you can get the existing customers to agree to service contracts with you contingent upon you acquiring rights to the IP. Then, approach the company holding the IP to and see if you can negotiate a lease and purchase. If they say no, then move on. If you get a yes then it's time to really dig into the economics and find out if it will be profitable. Good luck.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
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Perhaps you should accept your fate with this defunct company. Until you secure alternate employment, register yourself as unemployed, at least you will have some funds coming in while you await receipt of whatever redundancy payments. The Administrators MAY eventually get around to paying you some level of redundancy pay (nothing here would be guaranteed), but you as a mere former employee are relatively low down in the pecking order of any liquidated assets. By all means feel sorry for this defunct company's customers, but there is not very much you can do about the situation. You could always ask the administrators what assets and their prices that are being sold off. But the costs to acquire such assets, even at knock-down prices, are likely to be beyond your means, even beyond the joint means of all of your former colleagues. In the here and now of present financial insecurity, in my opinion, it is not the right time to "go it alone - with or without former colleagues".
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Good for you in thinking of lateral approaches. If you are willing to give some time you can test the waters to see if your ideas has legs.
tufkap wrote:
It's probably impossible to get a loan from a bank, so can we get one of the old company's partners or customers to buy the IP for us?
Rather than buying the existing IP, why not consider leasing it. See if first of all you can get the existing customers to agree to service contracts with you contingent upon you acquiring rights to the IP. Then, approach the company holding the IP to and see if you can negotiate a lease and purchase. If they say no, then move on. If you get a yes then it's time to really dig into the economics and find out if it will be profitable. Good luck.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
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Thanks Richard. I have already started the process of looking for a new job and claiming redundancy pay. This is just an alternate plan that I've been mulling over.
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My company is in the process of disappearing off the face of the earth. Most of the employees (including me) have been made redundant while the administrators are frantically trying to sell whatever is leftover and at this point it is not looking good. I feel genuinely sorry for our current customers which includes hospitals. They'll have to spend loads of money to replace our solution. While discussing this situation with a friend, she gave me the idea that it might be worth looking into starting a new company with some of my ex-colleagues and getting service contracts from those existing customers. Now I've been a lowly software developer so far, so I'm not aware of the practicalities of such a plan. I don't even know enough to ask the right questions. Does anyone here at CP have any advice as to how I'd go about doing something like this in the UK? I have a lot of questions going through my head including: 1) Is it a good idea to start something like this in the current economic climate? 2) It's probably impossible to get a loan from a bank, so can we get one of the old company's partners or customers to buy the IP for us? I guess this is all a moot point if big name companies are standing by waiting for the administrators to get really desperate before buying up everything in a fire sale. P.S - DD, do you know if there's anyway I can make a living from solving crytic crossords? :)
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Thank you Chris. I did not know that there is an option to lease the IP. Now I have to pitch this to my former colleagues to see if anyone else is interested.
tufkap wrote:
I did not know that there is an option to lease the IP.
Everything is negotiable; sometimes you just get the terms you need or better and sometimes you don't but, IMO asking doesn't hurt. Give it a shot and good luck.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
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Even maintenance would keep you going while you decide what to do next. The question - why did the business fail though?
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
Trollslayer wrote:
The question - why did the business fail though?
I think we had a good product, but bad marketing. Recently we had a makeover to change from an engineering-focused company to a marketing-focused one. We were expected to break even and then start turning a profit in about 6 months. But due to the credit crunch, the company just couldn't raise enough money to keep going. The administrators are finding it hard to find new investors for presumably the same reason.
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My company is in the process of disappearing off the face of the earth. Most of the employees (including me) have been made redundant while the administrators are frantically trying to sell whatever is leftover and at this point it is not looking good. I feel genuinely sorry for our current customers which includes hospitals. They'll have to spend loads of money to replace our solution. While discussing this situation with a friend, she gave me the idea that it might be worth looking into starting a new company with some of my ex-colleagues and getting service contracts from those existing customers. Now I've been a lowly software developer so far, so I'm not aware of the practicalities of such a plan. I don't even know enough to ask the right questions. Does anyone here at CP have any advice as to how I'd go about doing something like this in the UK? I have a lot of questions going through my head including: 1) Is it a good idea to start something like this in the current economic climate? 2) It's probably impossible to get a loan from a bank, so can we get one of the old company's partners or customers to buy the IP for us? I guess this is all a moot point if big name companies are standing by waiting for the administrators to get really desperate before buying up everything in a fire sale. P.S - DD, do you know if there's anyway I can make a living from solving crytic crossords? :)
Bad news mate. I'm sorry to hear this. One thing you might want to look into is contracting; this might tide you over for a bit.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Bad news mate. I'm sorry to hear this. One thing you might want to look into is contracting; this might tide you over for a bit.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Thanks Pete. Is the process of getting a contracting gig different from looking for a permanent position? Do I need to go through recruitment agents or can I approach companies directly?
Most companies would prefer it if you came to them via a recruiter, and it's generally better for you if you do so because agencies will put agreements in place to pay you on a regular basis. Believe me, it's no fun chasing after clients who won't pay up on time.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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My company is in the process of disappearing off the face of the earth. Most of the employees (including me) have been made redundant while the administrators are frantically trying to sell whatever is leftover and at this point it is not looking good. I feel genuinely sorry for our current customers which includes hospitals. They'll have to spend loads of money to replace our solution. While discussing this situation with a friend, she gave me the idea that it might be worth looking into starting a new company with some of my ex-colleagues and getting service contracts from those existing customers. Now I've been a lowly software developer so far, so I'm not aware of the practicalities of such a plan. I don't even know enough to ask the right questions. Does anyone here at CP have any advice as to how I'd go about doing something like this in the UK? I have a lot of questions going through my head including: 1) Is it a good idea to start something like this in the current economic climate? 2) It's probably impossible to get a loan from a bank, so can we get one of the old company's partners or customers to buy the IP for us? I guess this is all a moot point if big name companies are standing by waiting for the administrators to get really desperate before buying up everything in a fire sale. P.S - DD, do you know if there's anyway I can make a living from solving crytic crossords? :)
Pam, sorry to hear of your troubles. Let me first say that if you enter every prize crossword you still wouldn't eat very often! Secondly... Do discuss this with one of the partners, it may well be ok to do a small startup, as you already have existing customers. A small number of people, even on an initially part time basis, could well cope if it is only a case of maintenance/updates etc. A proposal to a bank may also work, especially if you have letters from the customers stating their willingness to continue using your services. If there is redundancy money available, it could be used to act as your collateral when applying for a loan. Hope that helps somewhat. DD
------------------------------------ We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop
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Pam, sorry to hear of your troubles. Let me first say that if you enter every prize crossword you still wouldn't eat very often! Secondly... Do discuss this with one of the partners, it may well be ok to do a small startup, as you already have existing customers. A small number of people, even on an initially part time basis, could well cope if it is only a case of maintenance/updates etc. A proposal to a bank may also work, especially if you have letters from the customers stating their willingness to continue using your services. If there is redundancy money available, it could be used to act as your collateral when applying for a loan. Hope that helps somewhat. DD
------------------------------------ We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop
I am also sorry to hear of the possible redundancy. Excellent advice from DD. If there is some way for you to cover your domestic basics for 6-12 months it has to be worth a punt. In whatever time there is left in the current company, sound out some of the customers to get an idea of the viability.
Henry Minute If you open a can of worms, any valid solution *MUST* involve a larger can!
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Pam, sorry to hear of your troubles. Let me first say that if you enter every prize crossword you still wouldn't eat very often! Secondly... Do discuss this with one of the partners, it may well be ok to do a small startup, as you already have existing customers. A small number of people, even on an initially part time basis, could well cope if it is only a case of maintenance/updates etc. A proposal to a bank may also work, especially if you have letters from the customers stating their willingness to continue using your services. If there is redundancy money available, it could be used to act as your collateral when applying for a loan. Hope that helps somewhat. DD
------------------------------------ We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop
Dalek Dave wrote:
Let me first say that if you enter every prize crossword you still wouldn't eat very often!
Damn! There goes my plan B. Thanks for your advice, Dave. I'll keep that in mind while I do more research on the feasibility of this wild plan of mine.
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I am also sorry to hear of the possible redundancy. Excellent advice from DD. If there is some way for you to cover your domestic basics for 6-12 months it has to be worth a punt. In whatever time there is left in the current company, sound out some of the customers to get an idea of the viability.
Henry Minute If you open a can of worms, any valid solution *MUST* involve a larger can!
Thanks Henry. I have already been laid off and I cleared out my desk this Monday. I guess it's the way I talked about the old company that gave the impression that I'm still working there. I'm still getting used to the idea that I'm no longer employed there.
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Most companies would prefer it if you came to them via a recruiter, and it's generally better for you if you do so because agencies will put agreements in place to pay you on a regular basis. Believe me, it's no fun chasing after clients who won't pay up on time.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.