In this area, business owners fall victim to “temporal discounting” – not worrying about things which seem a long way. It’s why business owners don’t have:
- Wills;
- Partnership agreements;
- Standard trading terms;
- Proper loan agreements;
- Employment contracts; and
- Written workplace policies.
They know they need them, but nothing is wrong right now, so there’s no hurry.
Except that when risks "come home" they don’t announce their arrival a month in advance. The truth is that you don’t know when:
- You may pass away;
- Your biggest customer will suddenly stop paying you;
- The person who you lent money to will claim it was a gift;
- An employee will walk out with your intellectual property, top salesman and half of your customers; or
- You will find that the employee who left last month was being bullied and now you are being sued.