Consider this: when anyone enters into business, he/she accepts a certain amount of risk for a potential reward. That's the game of business. So if you're dealing with businessmen/businesswomen, who are all operating under the same rules, there's no reason to feel guilty or ashamed; they all accept a degree of risk as standard operating practice.

This assumes, of course, that you've conducted your business in a fair and ethical matter.

Employees, of course, operate under a different "contract," with much less risk and reward. So, I hope you've been able to do well by your staff.

I've lost some money when small businesses went under. That's part of the game, I guess; and when those people call me later and settle for a percentage (as has happened) I respect them for their efforts. Sure, they'll be in the doghouse for a while; but I'll talk to them in the future.

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As to "shame" ... perhaps it's not my place to comment, and apologies if this crosses into politics ... but it seems to me that in this subprime business, somebody has made off with a trillion dollars and left ordinary folks holding the bag ... so if anybody should feel shame, and jail time too, it's the prime culprit(s) ... (that's just my take, FWIW)