Are You Ready?

Nancy and I spent some time this weekend visiting a good friend who was involved in a very serious automobile accident on July 1. He was going home for lunch driving the same road he had a thousand times before. That day, at an intersection that he had crossed so many times before, he missed seeing a vehicle coming from the right and pulled out in front of it. T-boned in the passenger side. Since it was a short trip he had failed to put his seatbelt on, so the crash threw him violently around the vehicle and he suffered significant brain damage among other issues. He lay in a coma for a couple months, but has now come back with some understanding but is months or years from a full recovery, if it ever happens.

So what is the moral of the story? We never think it will happen to us. When I suffered my quad bypass surgery at age 49, I certainly did not expect it to happen to me. But bad things happen to people every day. And if you think it won't happen to you, look out. The moral of the story is that we all need to get some plans in place so we are ready for whatever life throws at us. As business owners, it is one thing for us to choose not to prepare for the future. But we need to realize that decision impacts our staff, customers, family and a whole lot of people that would all prefer that we spend the time and energy to think through the potential and have a plan in place. In fact, it probably is the most important area we will ever address for our family and business.

That is why we are focusing on a legacy plan for HTG in Q4. Life is important, and the outcome of that life when we are no longer around is our legacy. We all have ideas of what we hope our life will do in terms of long term impact. But if we don't plan for it, if we don't tell people and write it down, then our legacy will be left to the courts and government and that is not going to turn out anywhere close to what we may want. No one wants to face the reality that life is short and will end. No one wants to admit that they are a heartbeat away from a medical issue that could take them out of their business short or long term. But it can happen - it does every day - and we need to face it and deal with it proactively, just like we preach to our clients. It is part of disaster recovery and business continuity. What happens to your business, family and legacy if something happens to you?

I will be sharing about this topic with several presentations at the upcoming HTG and ConnectWise Partner Summit events. We need to prepare and be ready for whatever life throws at us. It is a lot of work, takes a lot of communication and effort, but it is the only way to assure that your legacy will turn out the way you want it to be. Now is the time. Plan to join my sessions and find out key techniques to really be ready for life!