Nothing Is Certain But Death And Taxes
We were going to talk about Carbon Based investing today but decided to record a short episode because we recently lost a friend to a heart attack.
His name was Ed, and in addition to being our friend, he was a doctor, avid cyclist and husband.
So today we wanted to talk about the thing that nobody ever really wants to talk about – death.
How Much Runway Do You Have Left?
In the startup world, “runway” usually refers to how much time you have left before you run out of money. But what about your own runway? If you run out of time, will your business survive?
Are you prepared for catastrophic loss? Can your business function without you?
As entrepreneurs our businesses are often our babies. We invest ourselves in them as the face and brand, but what happens when we’re gone?
There comes a time when we’d do a better service to our businesses, clients and families if we detached a bit so we weren’t so central to the business.
Are you the only person who knows how things run? Who knows what the password are? Who knows where the documents are?
Can someone else pick up where you left off so your clients and family are taken care of?
What If We Get Hit By A Bus?
Ralph and I have the “what if we get hit by a bus” rule, which means that we need to have plans in place for our business and clients in the event that we die. We work together, travel together, are pretty much together 24/7 so if something happens to us, we want to be sure our clients’ businesses don’t come to a halt.
It’s not the most pleasant thing to think about, but it’s a reality and it can’t be ignored.
So take a look at your business. Can it continue if you die? Will your family be protected? Will your clients be protected?
And for that matter, are you taking care of yourself while you’re alive? Are you living every day that you’ve got here on this earth or are you living in a whirlwind without paying attention to what’s happening around you?
We don’t have all the answers, but we think the questions are worth asking. Don’t wait for a crisis to plan for a crisis. Get your ducks in a row now.
We’ll be back next week with our regular conversation and in the meantime if you want someone to bounce ideas off of or talk to about crisis planning, let us know. We’re happy to help.