Smarter? Eh, probably.

I dunno though. It's a small enterprise that doesn't do a lot of business even in good times. I'm ok helping them out. It can be my good deed for the decade.

If they are a low-margin business, the only way they'll be able to pay up, is if inflation makes money worthless.

A high-margin business with low cash on hand, that's temporarily impacted by COVID is another story - they might be able to pay up later.

There are also tax concerns that might affect a decision on whether to write down a loss this year versus some time in the near future.