It was bad advice and will just prolong the pain.

What's your annual profit? That's incoming revenue minus your necessary business expenses.

If you don’t pay yourself first what incentive is there to not just file chapter 11

I don't think this plan makes sense. What will you do about the late credit cards? You'll need to pay them eventually, probably with that money you paid yourself first, except now there's additional late fees and interest.

Your friend is right about the fact that you should be using your money for necessaries first. Save for taxes (figure out your actual tax rate) and other necessities (rent, utilities, food, etc after minimizing them a much a possible), part the minimums, save a small emergency fund as quick s possible, and then once you have it throw all extra funds at your debt.

If you can't pay the minimum payments and your necessities at the same time it may be time to consider a second job or bankruptcy.

Without a lot more info, there’s not much we can help you with. I’d reach out to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling www.nfcc.org and talk to a professional that can help you with your budgeting and putting a plan together to address this. 20K sounds like a lot but it’s not the end of the world. If you dial back your expenses (and are making good money), you can get this paid off in full in a few years.

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That is bad advice. You will be poorer in the long run by continuing to pay extra interest on your debts. You think you "can't get ahead" now? Following his advice will just dig you into an even deeper hole.

You should be making quarterly tax payments if self-employed. Each payment would be 25% of last year's tax bill with any additional amount owed added to the 4th payment (April 15). Now look at your personal spending habits to see what you can live without like fast food, Starbucks, cable/satellite TV, various Apps, beer, wine, booze, fancy meals, etc. All of that adds up to a considerable amount of money that can be used to pay off the CC with the smallest balance then move on to the next CC. I was a painting contractor for 30 years so took advantage of home office deductions and making purchases that could be considered as business expenses. You can deduct motor vehicle costs by having your company name and website painted on the rear sides and trunk. Some use decals made by online signage companies. The permanent lettering gets you off the hook for keeping a mileage log. I did that to my wife's minivans over the years to take straight line deductions for it.

You need to pay your creditors besides yourself. May want to look into having an accountant or CPA handle your books to keep you out of financial trouble and provide you with more for running the business and free time for yourself.