20.03.06

We might think to ourselves. I can’t get sick. I don’t have time to rest if I am sick. But the truth of the matter is that as much as we are capable of we are cannot will ourselves out of illness. Sure, there is the one guy on YouTube known as the Iceman who seems to be able to control such things. But for most of us we are relegated to suffer the effects of the bacteria and viruses we contract.

As some of you may know my husband has the propensity to contract pneumonia whenever he gets a simple rhino or influenza virus. This past week he contracted the flu from someone at a laboratory when he was waiting to get his blood drawn.

The following Sunday we spent the morning at the ER and my husband was treated for dehydration and the start of pneumonia. Luckily he was not admitted to the hospital like the last time we were there for his cold.

Normally my immune system is pretty strong and I can avoid getting sick most of the time. However, I do get sick on occasion. When that happens I am usually able to get better quickly. Fevers are problematic though. The last time I had a fever that kept me home was in the early 2000s when I was working for a well-respected law firm.

On Monday I was well on my way to having my version of the flu my husband caught from the person at the laboratory. Normally I will “push” through and work because that is what I do. This is not the best strategy because when we go to work when we are ill we infect others. It takes longer for us to get better and we are typically miserable.

What kept running through my head was what the ER doctor said. She said that being out in public while sick is a public health concern. Why did this matter to me? Because the reason I was sick was because someone else was out coughing all over the place without regard to how it affected (and infected) others.

As a result, I felt compelled to cancel my vending dates this past week and hope the flowers I had ordered would hold up in the cooler as long as they were still dry packed. (flowers come dry packed so they will last longer).

All these concerns reminded me of the importance of key man insurance. As a small business owner this a valid concern and it is best to be addressed early on in the business.

I recall when I was running my community newspaper and a member of BNI one of the members in our group got sick…he eventually died. He was the sole person who ran the company. There was no one else. He was survived by his wife and she was left without an additional source of support as a result of his death. He failed to set in place insurance which may have helped the company survive. It certainly would have helped his widow.

There are many things to consider when we embark on a business venture. There are esoteric concerns as well as practical and legal ones. It can be overwhelming to consider all the ramifications of business ownership.

One cannot be expected to understand and navigate the startup landscape alone. Reach out to your local resources for help e.g. the Entrepreneurship Collaborative Center, Operation Startup and other help that is often free to the business. Find a mentor; meet with like minded folks who are willing to help you find your way.

It is important to plan for a few flies in the ointment on your journey to success. Understand that it will be a challenge to make something out of nothing. Take time to rest and recharge. Be careful and when you get sick take care of yourself and protect others from your illness by staying home. This is especially important in this time when we are faced with an illness like the coronavirus COVID-19