3 ideas
A tradesman's credit rests on how others judge his ability and willingness to pay, not on what he is actually worth, so rumor alone can destroy it. Once suppliers doubt him they call in debts and refuse goods on trust, and that makes the insolvency they feared actually happen. He must therefore guard his reputation for punctual payment above profit, and never let others see him short of cash.
A tradesman should keep exact books so he always knows whether his estate is still solvent. The moment he finds he cannot pay his debts, he should stop trading and call his creditors together while there is still enough left to pay them. Traders who go on borrowing and gambling to recover are the ones who fall into total and dishonest bankruptcy.
Ruin rarely comes from one bad trade. It usually comes from the tradesman's attention and money moving out of the shop into pleasures, sports, and a household run to look like a gentleman's, while the business is left to servants. Expenses grow ahead of profits, the owner stops watching the counter, and the business decays from inside before any outside loss shows it.