This one hits home:
My father's cleaning company had a fire in 1971. He lost everything and wasn't properly insured.
If it weren't for the late Bob Hughes, who was just starting
Chemspec, and Jim Roden, the founder of
Prochem, who just passed away last month, we'd never have made it.
He chose to rebuild his business in a new way, left the franchise he was in, started training, and started our supply business.
Looking back, he still thinks it was the best thing that could have happened. At the time, of course, it was terribly traumatic. The fact that at the age of 11, I had no real idea of how bad it was speaks volumes about his character.
Great exercise, Mikey. Its fun (and instructive) to ponder what you might do differently in your business from a "set up point of view"
Its critical to make sure you are insured properly too!