How to Solve Debt When the Numbers Aren’t Enough – The Human Element of Finance

When I was starting out, nothing felt lonelier than staring at a balance sheet that told the wrong story.

I saw years of sweat equity, loyal customers, and a team that showed up for me every single day. The spreadsheet? It saw a bunch of red ink. Debt. It was like standing in front of a jury where the verdict was already guilty, and I wasn’t even allowed to speak.

That’s what I call the spreadsheet TRAP: the belief that numbers alone define your future.

Lenders say no.

Refinancing doors slam shut.

Assets look too thin on paper.

Suddenly, it feels like you’ve run out of road.

The bottom line is that no spreadsheet can capture every nuance. Numbers are only half the story. The other half is human: your grit, your creativity, your refusal to quit when logic says you should.

I’ve seen it firsthand, both in my own journey and in the businesses we work with at The Prosper Group, my strategy lab for rescuing struggling businesses. Companies that should’ve been buried by debt instead found ways to climb out. The math didn’t magically change; what did change was their unwillingness to accept “no” as the final answer.

Let me introduce you to two of those stories. Their last names and business names have been omitted for privacy purposes.

Joe: The power of persistence

Joe ran a 3rd-generation family business. On paper, it looked doomed. It was mired in heavy debt and numbers that didn’t fit traditional lending models. Bank after bank said the same thing: Sorry, it doesn’t work for us.

Joe didn’t stop there. He kept looking, and he repositioned his story to focus on the things that the spreadsheets ignored:

A flawless record of making payments on ugly, high-interest loans.A business that carried decades of reputation and legacy.A support team (including a fractional CFO) committed to his success.A clear plan for crushing debt once it was refinanced.

Finally, a local credit union saw the value in Joe’s business.. They didn’t just see liabilities; they saw grit, history, and a smart plan. They bet on Joe. Within weeks, the deal was done. His debt was refinanced, his appraisal came in high, and his monthly cash flow improved dramatically.

Persistence paid off.

Suzie: The power of creativity

Suzie’s business had the opposite problem: minimal assets. For most lenders, that’s a non-starter. Game over.

But buried in her situation was a detail most people miss: her existing loans already had personal guarantees. That meant her personal and business finances were tied together anyway. Instead of seeing that as a dead end, we flipped it into a solution.

We helped Suzie tap into her personal assets, specifically a home equity line of credit. That single move restructured her sky-high business debt into interest-only payments. The result? Her monthly obligations dropped by 90%. Ninety! No, that is not a typo. That kind of breathing room can change the entire trajectory of a business.

Creativity paid off.

The philosophy behind the wins

Joe’s story is about persistence. Suzie’s is about creativity. But both prove the same point: your balance sheet doesn’t get the final say…you do.

Success comes from shifting the question from “Do the numbers work?” to “How do we make them work?” It takes digging deeper, telling a fuller story, and finding the angle others miss.

That’s the work I’m committed to with struggling entrepreneurs. It’s why we formed The Prosper Group; not as some magic fix, but as a partner for those who refuse to let a spreadsheet decide their future.

So if you’re staring at numbers that make you feel cornered, know this: there is always a way forward. You don’t just need a calculator. You need persistence. You need creativity. And most of all, you need to believe your story isn’t over yet.

Because it’s not.

-Mike

Curious about how the Prosper Group can invest in your company? Email Greg Eckler at greg@thepropspergroup.org or check out the page here https://prospergroup.pages.ontraport.net/

 

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