The Current Administration Is Causing My Business To Struggle

Summary

The Ramsey Show Highlights

Episode: The Current Administration Is Causing My Business To Struggle
Date: December 7, 2025
Host: Ramsey Network
Featured Experts: George Kamel, Dave Ramsey (A & C in transcript)
Caller: Ashley (Small business owner)

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Episode Overview

In this focused and candid episode, Ashley, a small business owner from California, calls in to seek urgent advice as her consulting firm faces a financial crisis. She attributes much of her firm's struggles to recent changes in federal policies, the economic climate, and personal hardships. The Ramsey team unpacks her current situation, explores the impact of shifting marketplaces and debt, and offers practical, sometimes tough, advice for surviving the immediate storm.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Caller Introduction & Business Background

• Ashley’s business is a consulting firm supporting humanitarian initiatives, primarily with education institutions and corporations, by helping them repurpose assets for charities ([00:30]).
• Her firm was women-owned certified and heavily involved with university and school district contracts.

2. Impact of Current Administration Policies

• Ashley describes how new federal policies have swept through and hampered vital income streams:
  • Loss of DEI initiatives and grants significantly reduced university funding ([00:56]).
  • School funding cuts and department restructurings have triggered downsizing and uncertainty ([01:17]).
  • Tariffs have created additional pressures, compounding the financial hit ([01:34]).

Memorable Quote:

“The DEI initiative, we took a pretty hard hit with that in January. The grants for the universities being revoked... That caused some cash crunches for some of the programs.”
— Ashley ([00:56])

3. Declining Revenue and Mounting Expenses

• Ashley outlines the drastic drop in business since January and the resulting layoffs and cost-cutting measures.
• She faces significant debts after paying out staff benefits and obligations when downsizing ([01:51]).
• Her husband’s prolonged illness has further strained the business — he is both her spouse and business partner ([02:24]).

Memorable Quote:

“I started laying people off. I ... changed insurance plans for benefits for the employees I still had, tried to reduce cost across the board. But now ... my husband got sick and he was hospitalized for two months ... So we're at a point right now...”
— Ashley ([01:51])

4. Debt Breakdown and Cash Flow Realities

• Currently, Ashley is the sole employee, with the following debts ([03:59]):
  • $60,000 to a vendor (140 days overdue)
  • $90,000 in leased business vehicles
  • $80,000 in credit card debt
  • $5,000 office lease
• Total outstanding business-related debt: $250,000 ([04:04]).
• Revenue: Grossed $2.5 million last year, but expects a dramatic drop this year. Next major contracts don’t deliver income until spring ([04:45], [05:41]).

Memorable Exchange:

Dave/George: “This is a highly leveraged business.” ([04:31])
Dave: “I’m talking to a lady who’s absolutely drowning in debt... I haven’t heard anything about how you make money between now and April.” ([05:51])

5. Immediate Survival: Advice from the Hosts

• The hosts highlight the urgent need for income, not additional loans ([06:14], [07:35]).
• Concrete suggestions:
  • Sell what you can (especially the business vehicles, if possible).
  • Pausing or pivoting the business if contracts are not landing.
  • Consider moving to a lower-cost-of-living area, if feasible ([06:53]).
  • “Use your skills to go do something else right now to float you until those contracts come in. Then we can right this ship.” ([08:16])

Notable Quotes:

“We don’t make money for people.”
— Dave ([07:12])

“We’re never going to suggest you get a loan. What I'm saying is maybe this business needs to pause right now...”
— George ([07:35])

“You built a house of cards with all of this debt that's mounted. So there's pressure.”
— George ([08:32])

6. Tough Conversations and Transparency

• The hosts advise reaching out to the overdue vendor, being candid, and negotiating a payment plan ([08:32]).
  • “Your story is the best policy, the truth. And I owe you and I’m going to pay you, and I got this much coming in in April. But you have got to batten down the hatches...” ([08:32])
• Emphasize the necessity to confront the storm directly by maximizing short-term income and minimizing liabilities.

7. Structural Changes to the Business

• The future viability of Ashley’s business model is called into question if some contracts or grants never return ([09:15]).
  • “You might need to pivot this business. If the grant money's all dried up... we're gonna have to figure out another way to make this work long term.” — George ([09:15])

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Notable Quotes & Their Timestamps

• “The DEI initiative, we took a pretty hard hit with that in January. The grants for the universities being revoked... That caused some cash crunches for some of the programs.” — Ashley ([00:56])
• “I started laying people off... tried to reduce cost across the board. But now ... my husband got sick and he was hospitalized for two months...” — Ashley ([01:51])
• “This is a highly leveraged business.” — Dave ([04:31])
• “I’m talking to a lady who’s absolutely drowning in debt... I haven’t heard anything about how you make money between now and April.” — Dave ([05:51])
• “We don’t make money for people.” — Dave ([07:12])
• “We’re never going to suggest you get a loan. Maybe this business needs to pause right now.” — George ([07:35])
• “You built a house of cards with all of this debt that's mounted. So there's pressure.” — George ([08:32])
• “Your story is the best policy, the truth. And I owe you and I’m going to pay you, and I got this much coming in in April. But you have got to batten down the hatches...” — Dave ([08:32])

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Key Segment Timestamps

• 00:30–01:41: Business introduction and discussion on the devastating impact from policy changes
• 03:00–04:04: Debt breakdown and revealing the true scope of the struggle
• 06:05–07:55: Grappling income gaps, options for immediate earnings, and the hosts’ urgency about basic financial survival
• 08:05–09:23: Final advice — prioritize income now, communicate transparently with creditors, and consider significant business or life pivots

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Final Thoughts

This episode sharply illustrates the vulnerability small businesses can face amid sweeping external changes, and the compounding effect of personal struggles on financial health. The Ramsey team’s advice is urgent, pragmatic, and unvarnished: strip the business down to the basics, generate short-term income by any means necessary, communicate transparently with creditors, and re-evaluate the entire business model if prior revenue sources evaporate. The underlying tone is empathetic but firm, recognizing the storm while emphasizing personal agency to act decisively. For any business owner facing a similar storm, this is a reality check and roadmap for both survival and tough decision-making.

Transcript

[A]

Zander shops all the top term insurance companies to save you money. Get [e-mail].

[B]

I am a small business owner. I've been in business for about five years and I've been doing pretty well financially for the last four years until January hit and now a lot of the current administration's policies have hit about every single section of my job.

[A]

What business are you? What? Tell me about your business.

[B]

So I'm a consulting firm that helps to support humanitarian initiatives with corporations, colleges and school districts. So essentially they bring me in as a consultant to repurpose their furniture and fixed assets with charities around the world.

[A]

Okay. And I'm just curious, not trying to get into a political rabbit hole, but how, how are the, how are the current policies affecting your income?

[B]

So first off, we're women owned certified small business. So the DEI initiative, we took a pretty hard hit with that in January. The grants for the universities being revoked. That caused some cash crunches for some of the programs and some of the projects that they do traditionally over the summer.

[A]

Gotcha.

[B]

You know, funding for the public schools, you know, obviously if they don't, if programs are being let go or, you know, department of education is, you know, being restructured, all of those things. School districts are downsizing themselves and kind of wondering how they're going to have the programs that they need to take care of their students.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And then the, obviously the tariffs, which we all know that's a subject in and of itself, but how are the tariffs factors combined?

[A]

Okay, all right, all right. So bottom line is, is that money has dried up. What was coming in freely to pay for your consultancy services have dried up.

[B]

Yeah. And where I'm at right now is like I've done, you know, I knew that this was coming. So, you know, as each hit kept coming into play, you know, I kept restructuring, kept trying to shift things. You know, I started laying people off. I, you know, I changed insurance plans for benefits for the employees. I still had, you know, try to reduce cost across the board. But now I'm at a situation where my husband got sick and he was hospitalized for two months and he's also my business partner. So we're at a point right now where.

I'm starting to get work in queue for next spring, like heavy in for next spring and potentially next summer.

[C]

Great.

[B]

But obviously that is not going to help me now because I still have, I have some pretty good sized bills that I still owe.

[C]

And how many full time team members do you have? What does your payroll look like right now?

[B]

It's just me.

[C]

Okay, so it's just you. What kind of debt do you have?

[B]

So Basically I've got one vendor right now that I'm about 140 days overdue, that I owe him 60,000.

[C]

What's that debt for?

[B]

It's so basically in. I work with third party vendors at times. Some entities that I work with want an all in in. They want an all inclusive cost for my service. So there is some of my work that I do sub. Subcontract out.

[C]

So I'm still confused how you just, you took on 60 grand?

[A]

Yeah. Did you get paid and then you kept it and didn't pay the vendor?

[B]

Basically what ended up happening was over the course of the summer, I had to let all of my employees go. And so basically in order to do that, I had to pay out all of their medical expenses, their insurance, their vacation time and all of that. So by the time everything was all said and done so that I didn't have the IRS on my back, it was either pay them or basically pay my vendor is ultimately what it came down to. So I'm in a situation right now where I need to pay them the money that's rightfully owed them.

What's your total debt and all of that? My total debt right now is 250,000.

[C]

250,000. Where's the rest of this debt?

[B]

So I've got. Right Now I have so 60,000. 60,000 for that. I have a couple of vehicles on the company which are about, which equal to about 90,000. I've got credit card debt for about 80,000.

I have an office lease here for about 5,000.

[C]

Goodness gracious.

[B]

Insurance and all that other stuff.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

This is a highly leveraged business.

[A]

This is crazy. Just a practical question. How, how much money do you have? You laid it out. How much money you've got to bring in to cover the basics?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I have that figured out. I mean, up until this year, I was, I was bringing in over. I was, I was grossing. Last year I grossed 2.5 million. And this year I'll be lucky to.

[A]

No, no, I get it. I'm just saying. Do you. Are you going to be able to take care of you and your husband?

[C]

Can you make all of your payments and cover all your bills right now as it stands.

[B]

And that's why I'm calling you guys is because right now I'm trying. I'm at a point right now where I am.

[C]

So there's zero income coming in this month.

[A]

Yes or no? We're not getting a straight answer from you.

[B]

There is income coming in. Yes, but it's. What I'm looking for is I'm at a point right now where I'm just realizing that I'm not realizing, but there's expenses or there's bills that I know that I'm going to need to pay that I need to cover between now and April of next year.

[A]

So. And you don't have any contracts coming in, so how we get contracts while.

[C]

We get a different job? And is your husband working now? Is he back to.

[B]

My husband is back. I do. I do have contracts, but as a small business owner, the contracts that are confirmed that are over 100,000 don't hit until next spring.

[A]

We.

[C]

We.

[A]

I understand that. I understand that. I'm not talking about next April. I'm talking to a lady who's absolutely drowning in debt. And I'm wondering how you and your husband are going to pay your bills. I haven't heard anything on this call about how you make money between now and April.

[B]

And that's why I'm calling you guys is to say, what are my potential options?

[A]

I know, but I got to get a straight.

[C]

I can start with this. We can sell the $90,000 worth of cars we have.

[A]

Sell the cars.

[C]

I'm guessing you're underwater on both of them.

[A]

Go get a job.

[C]

What are the cars worth?

[B]

The cars. The cars are under lease right now.

[C]

They're a lease?

[B]

Yes, they're leased.

[C]

Then what's. Where's the 90,000 in car loan debt?

[B]

Because that's when the leases run out. That's how much the leases are for right now, for the contract.

[C]

Goodness gracious. Why do you need luxury cars to run a humanitarian consulting firm?

[B]

They're not luxury cars. They're used for transportation, like vans. They're business. Yes, yes, they're for business use.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

And right now, live in California. It's not. It's not cheap living here.

[C]

Yeah, well, that's my next question. Do we need to move out?

You're living in one of the highest cost cities in America. So can you do this business from elsewhere?

[B]

Am I. Where am I going to go? Because anywhere that I go, I'm going to have to. I'm going to have to survive three times my income. Well, again, I business owner to boo.

[A]

I agree. I appreciate. George, that's not the right question. The question that we've got to answer. And you keep saying. Well, that's why I called you guys and I got bad news for you. We don't make money for people.

[B]

I can tell you looking to make money. What I'm saying is you should be. I don't want to go. I don't want to go out right now and get a loan and end up with something like the gentleman who had mentioned that he had a ridiculous interest rate.

[A]

Yeah, we're not.

[C]

We're never going to suggest you get a loan. What I'm saying is maybe this business needs to pause right now. If you can't get contracts and both of you need to get full time jobs doing other things or four side jobs each in order to cover the bills during this storm, sell everything.

[B]

Which would be great, except that my husband is in rehab right now.

[C]

You just told me he was back to work.

[B]

He's back to work part time, yes, but he's in a. He's in a rehabilitation facility.

[C]

Okay, so then it's on you.

[B]

Yes, it's on me.

[A]

That's what we're trying to say. We're not mad at you, but we're sort of frustrated for you to go. Ashley, the fix here is you got to bring in some income now in the short term or this whole thing.

[C]

And it may not be from your business. If that's not a viable solution, which means. Which it isn't, use your skills to go do something else right now to float you until those contracts come in. Then we can write this ship. But right now, you built a house of cards with all of this debt that's mounted. So there's pressure.

[A]

And while we're at it, while we're throwing a lot of advice at you because. But you got to get on the phone with this vendor and go, let me tell you my story. Here's what I had to do. Your story is the best policy, the truth. And I owe you and I'm going to pay you, and I got this much coming in in April. But you have got to batten down the hatches. It's an old phrase to get ready for the storm because you were in the middle of it, the winds are howling. And what we're telling you is you got to go get some income in for you and your husband first and foremost. It's just you as the employee now, so we're not worried about that. And. And I'd go to the vendor and I'd explain what's going on and come up with a plan, but I mean, we're talking about urgency and that's all we got for you.

[C]

You're gonna. You might need to pivot this business. If the grant money's all dried up and nobody's coming for you for the contracts, we're gonna have to figure out another way to make this work long term.

[A]

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