Anything Can Happen...

We have been experiencing a strange spring here in Minnesota.  We dealt with heavy snowfall throughout April, including two blizzards late in the month.  Cooler temperatures continued well into May before we finally started to realize more typical spring weather, and temperatures.  We even had a couple of severe swings with some of those first nice days, going quickly from warm sunshine to cool and rainy and dropping 40+ degrees in a twenty-four hour time frame.

I bring all of this up because it served as a real reminder of how quickly things can change.  Whether it's related to weather, our health, or our businesses it just makes good sense to be aware of this and strive to be vigilant.  I know how easy it is to be focused on the busyness of life and we forget how quickly things can change and that just about anything can happen.

I received another reminder of this a couple of weeks ago, when I received a call from a client who is currently being sued.  Not only has his business come under fire, but the lawsuit also names him personally as well.  The general contention of the lawsuit is that he has not preserved corporate formalities and he and his business are basically one identity because proper documentation of separateness hasn't been followed.  It is a common move in lawsuits to name both the business, and its shareholders/owners personally so that the opposition can "shake the money tree" and see what falls out.

Fortunately, Safe Shield has been working with this particular business owner for several years and we do indeed have detailed documentation that demonstrates personal and corporate separateness.  At the end of the day, the personal attack against him will end up going out the window.  Unfortunately, too many of these situations have a much different outcome.  Too many business owners do very little to preserve corporate formalities within their business and find out the hard way that they are not properly protected against the risks facing every business owner.

My challenge to you today is to remember that anything can happen at any time.  It makes sense to be mindful of this and plan accordingly...