Tough Times Toolkit
How to Steady the Ship, Come Out Swinging, and Build Back Stronger When Business Gets Hard
Every business hits a wall. Most hit several. The question isn’t whether tough times will come — it’s whether you’ll know what to do when they do.
This is the step-by-step manual for stabilising in a crisis, protecting what matters, and coming out the other side stronger. No theory — just the exact moves to make when everything’s on fire.
Written by someone who’s faced bankruptcy, legal battles, partner disputes, bank freezes, and cash flow crises across 100+ businesses over 25 years — and come back stronger every single time.
Get your free copy instantly
Get Your Free Copy
Enter your details below and we’ll send Tough Times Toolkit straight to your inbox. No credit card. No bollocks.
We respect your privacy. No spam, ever.
Sound Familiar?
Revenue’s dropped off a cliff and you don’t know if next month’s payroll is covered.
You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. Every week is a juggling act.
A supplier’s gone bust, a partner’s turned hostile, or a client’s not paying — and it’s all happening at once.
Creditors are calling. Letters are piling up. Legal threats are landing. You’re avoiding your phone.
The bank’s asking questions, your accountant’s saying “cut costs”, and nobody’s telling you what to actually DO.
You’re lying awake at 3am wondering if this is the end of everything you’ve built.
Your business isn’t dead. It’s in trouble. And there’s a massive difference. You don’t need motivation. You need a manual. Step-by-step. In the right order. Starting today. That’s what this book is.
Why I Wrote This Book
I’ve faced bankruptcy, legal battles, frozen accounts, partner betrayals, and cash flow crises more times than I can count. This book is the manual I wish existed every single time.
What You’re Getting
The First 72 Hours Protocol — The exact steps to take when crisis hits. What to do first, who to call, what to protect. One director used this chapter to buy 6 months of breathing room in a single weekend.
Cash Flow Triage — How to buy time without destroying value. The difference between smart cuts and fatal ones — and the exact order to make them.
The Renegotiation Playbook — Scripts and strategies for renegotiating rent, supplier terms, debt repayments, and contracts. One business reduced monthly outgoings by £47K using these techniques.
Creditor Management System — How to keep creditors calm while you fix things. The communication framework that stops legal action and buys you time to restructure.
Asset Protection — How to protect your home, savings, and family — legally — before it’s too late. The steps most directors don’t know about until after they’ve lost everything.
The Decision Framework — When to fight and when to fold. The objective scoring system that removes emotion from the biggest decision of your business life.
The Comeback Playbook — How to rebuild stronger after hitting the wall. The exact framework Matt used to go from bankruptcy to deploying £1B+ in funding, and investing in over 100 businesses.
Mental Resilience Chapter — How to survive the emotional shitstorm. Practical strategies for the 3am panic, the family pressure, and the isolation that nobody talks about.
When Your Business Hits the Wall
Without This Book vs. With It
Without the Toolkit
- You panic and make emotional decisions that make things worse
- You cut the wrong costs and kill what could save you
- Creditors pile on pressure and you don’t know how to manage them
- You don’t know your legal options until it’s too late
- You burn through cash trying to fix everything at once
- Your business dies — not because it was unviable, but because you didn’t have a plan
With the Toolkit
- You execute the 72-hour protocol and stabilise immediately
- You make surgical cuts that protect your revenue-generating assets
- You manage creditors proactively with proven communication frameworks
- You protect your personal assets legally before the pressure mounts
- You prioritise cash flow actions in the exact right order
- Your business survives — because you had a manual
Reader Results
Don’t Take My Word For It
“I was three weeks from closing the doors. Tough Times Toolkit gave me the exact framework to stabilise, renegotiate my lease, and restructure my debt. Six months later we’re profitable again.”
“Every business owner should read this BEFORE they need it. The preparation chapters alone saved me when COVID hit. I was the only one in my industry who didn’t panic — because I had a plan.”
“Matt doesn’t just tell you it’ll be okay. He gives you the exact moves to make, in the exact order, with the exact scripts to use. This is a manual, not a motivational book.”
“We’d been trading for 15 years and suddenly couldn’t make payroll. The creditor management chapter alone was worth its weight in gold. We kept every supplier and came out the other side intact.”
Written by someone who’s been through it — repeatedly
Matt Haycox
I didn’t just face one crisis. I’ve faced dozens. Bankruptcy at 27. Legal battles that dragged on for years. Partners who turned on me. Banks that froze my accounts without warning. Cash flow emergencies that could have killed the business overnight.
With 100+ businesses over 25 years, I’ve had to stabilise, renegotiate, restructure, and rebuild more times than I can count. Every type of crisis you can imagine — I’ve been through it. Supplier failures, client collapses, regulatory nightmares, staff walkouts, debt spirals — the lot.
Each time I got better at it. Faster at stabilising. Smarter about what to cut and what to protect. More ruthless about who to pay and who to hold off. And I built systems — frameworks that work regardless of what type of crisis you’re facing.
This toolkit is 25 years of crisis management distilled into a single manual. Not from one bad year — from a career spent navigating problems, solving them, and coming back stronger every time.
“Every crisis I’ve been through taught me something. This book is all of those lessons in one place — so you don’t have to learn them the hard way like I did.”
You’re Probably Wondering…
“My business is in trouble RIGHT NOW — is this practical enough to help?”
Yes. Chapter 1 (The First 72 Hours) gives you the exact steps to take today. It’s designed to be used in real-time, not read cover to cover first. Go straight to the chapter that matches your situation.
“Is this actually free?”
Yes! Absolutely! You enter your name and email, and the book is sent instantly. Matt wrote it because he’s been through more crises than he can count across 100+ businesses — and this book didn’t exist for any of them. He wished it had.
“Is this just motivational fluff?”
No. This is a manual. Scripts, frameworks, checklists, decision trees. Every chapter ends with specific actions to take. Matt doesn’t tell you it’ll be okay — he tells you exactly what to do.
“My business isn’t in crisis yet. Should I still read it?”
Absolutely. The preparation chapters (asset protection, multi-bank strategy, creditor relationships) are designed to be implemented BEFORE you need them. The best time to build a fire escape is before the fire.
Your Business Isn’t Dead.
It Just Needs a Plan.
Every business that closes didn’t have to. Most of them just didn’t know what to do, in what order, fast enough. 25 years of crisis management. One manual. Yours free.
Download Free Copy See All Books