[edanm]

> or you are running a completely unsustainable business that only existed because of easy access to cheap debt the past couple of years.

Or you planned for revenue growth by doing things like buying extra equipment, hiring more workers, increasing office space, etc.

When operating a business, you have to plan for growth, or lack of growth, or even for revenue to fall. And your planning often costs money, or commitments to pay money. If reality suddenly doesn't match your planning, then you are in trouble.

And I totally don't get why people are so negative on debt. If I'm running a relatively new company, and realize I have a good product that is going to increase in demand next year, but I don't have the money to build out a new factory - I can get a loan. If I happen to be, say, Apple, I don't necessarily need a loan - I can finance it myself using cash reserves from previous years. Why is it better to live in a world where the only companies who can build up for future growth like this are huge companies like Apple?

[pdeuchler]

Uhhhhhh, are you talking about bank term loans? Bank term loans have repayment periods over decades (usually), and use the physical assets as collateral. Not what OP is talking about.