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Born Again Good businesses don't have to die just because they've gone hopelessly, out-of-control in debt. There is a place they can turn for redemption: the bankruptcy laws.

By Chris Sandlund

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

This past April, Paul Ginsburg was anxious and scared as he negotiated with Sterling National Bank. The 47-year-old president of Manhattan clothier Moe Ginsburg Men's Better Clothing needed to secure financing quickly. The third generation of his family to run a retail clothing operation in New York City, Ginsburg was coming off his worst year ever. His business was declining significantly.


18%
was this year's first-quarter percentage increase in personal bankruptcies in the United States.
SOURCE: The Orlando Sentinal

Ginsburg had been hit with a triple whammy. The city's financial community had pared its wardrobe expenses last fall as dotcom shares crashed on Wall Street. To make matters worse, the sudden switch to business-casual dress policies at such stalwart suit-and-tie outfits as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter left him holding too much stock in tailored suits.