What happens if....

A friend's husband has just had a major stroke. He happens to be retired, but there are still so many things that my friend has to deal with whilst he is incapacitated. Imagine how much worse it might be if he was running a business? I thought it was an important topic to be considered.

What would happen to your business if you were to have an accident, heart attack or stroke - maybe you would recover, maybe not?

Often you will hear of financial plans that can be put in place and so talking to a a financial specialist to get all the right cover in place is essential - but the money is only part of it?

Who would run your business?

Even if the business were to be wound up because you are no longer there to run it, who would contact customers and suppliers, fulfil outstanding orders, pay outstanding invoices?? What would the staff do (if you have any) - how would they get paid?? (And there are probably a million and one other considerations).

If the business is to continue then you need to have a plan in place to make sure everything runs smoothly. Having the money in place to pay for cover is one thing, but have you thought about who that would actually be!?

Who has access to the bank account(s) in order to keep things going? This needs to be done in advance, not when you are in intensive care.

I know - it is not something we really want to consider.? However, it’s not generally covered in “Disaster Recovery”, where we generally think we will be the one executing the plan.? In this situation, we won’t…

So - take some time to think about it this week.? Please also make sure you have all the relevant financial protections in place such as life insurance, critical illness cover and key man insurance (to name but three!).

Someone will thank you, one day