Thousands of self-employed workers overcome their debts with the Second Chance program but face their new businesses with fear.

Thousands of self-employed individuals have managed to cancel their debts thanks to the Second Chance Law. However, many continue to make decisions as if bankruptcy were imminent, foregoing investments, hiring, or taking on any extra expenses.

Thousands of self-employed individuals in Spain have managed to cancel their debts thanks to the Second Chance Law. This mechanism, in the last year analyzed alone, allowed for the discharge of liabilities for more than 50,000 people, according to data from the Observatory of Personal Insolvency. However, the end of the proceedings doesn't always mean that their business will return to normal.

Natalia Otero, a lawyer specializing in over-indebtedness and CEO of the law firm Fórmula Legal, illustrates this with a very common real-life case from her professional practice: “I had a consulting client who, with €15,000 in savings, didn't dare commit to €300 a month to hire a collaborator who would allow her to grow again and increase her revenue.” Despite having some financial leeway, fear continued to influence every decision.

“Most emerge from the process with a clean slate in legal terms, but continue managing as if bankruptcy were imminent,” Otero explained to this newspaper, emphasizing that this paralysis is not isolated or anecdotal, but rather a constant after debt relief.

And this paralysis has a direct economic impact on viable small businesses. Projects that are rejected, contracts that are not signed, and prices that are refused ultimately translate into stagnant activity and lost opportunities within the business network of the self-employed to whom the Second Chance Law has granted a new lease on life.