Most Vancouverites who have ever moved or are raving fans of CBC’s Dragons’ Den have likely heard of Frog Box – the reusable moving box rental company that’s locally based. Frog Box’s notoriety began when they secured financing from the celebrity investors on Dragons’ Den and went on to expand to 19 franchise outlets, building a solid company and bettering the world. And then the unthinkable happened.
The founder (and husband and father of two young children) was diagnosed with a rare and fast-growing cancer in August 2013 and eventually lost his battle to the illness. His wife, who was the VP of Global Operations for Lululemon, along with a silent partner had to step in to help keep things stable; while the business was able to make a smooth transition, this story got us thinking of how most business owners and executives don’t do a good job of planning for the unthinkable – injury, illness or death.
As much as we’d like to think it will never happen to us, just consider the consequences if it did. If you were to get injured or ill and you couldn’t work, what are your options? Do you have enough income or insurance protection in place? Is it addressed in a business agreement? If you had to take time off to recover, how would t affect the productivity and profitability of your company? How would creditors, suppliers and employees react?
Our intention is to get you thinking about important questions like these and thinking about business protection; most business owner’s don’t know how little it costs to protect their income and their business and that the cost may be tax-deductible. If you’d like to have more of conversation on how to use corporate dollars to protect your business and your family, please contact us.