Something Wicked This Way Comes

Capital Thinking • Issue #10 • View online

I know it's out there.

And it's out to get me. Yep, there's a bullet with my name on it all right. At least, figuratively, if not literally (I hope).

There will be another weather related disaster, a lawsuit, a disgruntled employee, disadvantaged tenant, or maybe someone will just decide to “go postal” one day.

It'll happen.

The odds are not in my favor because I'm a target of opportunity – a real estate investor, I own a small business, or I am a professional in private practice.

Most of my assets are easily found and aren't very portable. I'm hard to hide and hiding just isn't my style anyway.

Having said that, my impending collision with destiny doesn't have to be the end of the world. In fact, its part of my job to make sure it isn't fatal, financially speaking anyway.

All it takes is a little preparation, a few decisions early in the game, and a realization that unless I take responsibility for my own financial security, no one else will.

Take another look at the picture at the top of this post.

What do you see?

This picture was first used by a mutual fund to promote their services back in the nineties. Their pitch was simple: Most independent business people see themselves as the bear – when in reality, they are most often the fish.

Which are you?

Each of us struggles to grow our businesses, to become better business people, and to reach for success.

We deal with deadlines, product launches, hiring decisions, and marketing. There are decisions to be made about site locations, websites, promotional pieces, and client meetings; all in all, hundreds of decisions that impact our companies, our relationships, and ourselves.

Sooner or later, we all come face to face with the bear.

It may come in the form of a Wall Street slump, our local banker demonstrating what “credit -tightening” really means, or even a growth opportunity that got away from us.

The hard truth is that most of us spend so much time dealing with daily issues like making payroll, inventory control, or credit lines that we forget about the “larger” picture until one day we look up and there is the bear.

Watching.

Waiting.

Always hungry.

What good is it to successfully navigate the hundreds of issues keeping us from our dreams only to find the bear waiting for us at the goal line?

And the moment you face the bear is not the time to begin thinking about alternatives.

When the bank calls your credit line, HR calls you to a private Friday afternoon meeting, or your largest customer emails you that he's switched vendors, that's when you put your Plan B into action.

What's that? You do have a Plan B don't you?

*Originally posted on Capital Thinking - JANUARY 11, 2012