Worth Recording

As I look forward to August, I am planning to update my digital photographs and video records of key assets. Digital images help to document hard-to-value assets, such as artwork, for example. I generally use the month of August to get caught up on all of my nagging chores, because most people I need to see are on vacation, so little gets done during this month. It seems that everything is in freeze-frame as we wait to resume normal activity after Labor Day. But particularly with this severe heat and humidity, I’d rather stay indoors and put my home and office in order. Then I can make a fresh start in autumn.

In addition to taking digital photographs of new items or updating records for old ones, I will be scanning in and digitizing key documents for online storage. Of course, these files will also be backed up offsite for remote retrieval. I hope I will never need them, but the peace of mind is priceless. I thought of peace of mind today when looking at the newspaper photographs of the wildfires raging in southern California. Everyone always regrets losing precious memories in the form of family photographs. Make sure yours are safely backed up.

Keeping Them Safe

Save The Children has just published a report, “A National Report Card on Protecting Children During Disasters”, which finds that five years after Hurricane Katrina displaced more than 160,000 children in the Gulf Coast, most states are not fully prepared to protect children in disasters. Fewer than one-quarter of the states have implemented the four basic safeguards to protect children who are in school or child care during disasters, which are:

• A plan for evacuating children from childcare
• A plan for protecting children with special needs
• A plan for evacuating children from schools and
• A plan for reunifying children with their parents after the disaster

Now is the time to follow up with your child’s school to make sure that they have plans in place and that you know what they are. Only twelve states, including Mississippi and Alabama, met all four requirements.

Feeling Confident?

Just when you think that the electronic society couldn’t become more inhuman, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, our over-burdened consumer protection agency, alerts us to signs of medical identity theft:

• You are billed for medical services that you never received.
• A debt collector contacts you about medical debt you don’t owe.
• Your credit report shows medical collection notices that are unfamiliar to you.
• Your health insurer denies your legitimate claim for medical benefits, stating that you have reached the limit allowed under your plan.
• You are denied insurance coverage because your medical records reveal a pre-existing condition that you don’t have.

Misuse of your identity can arise from dishonest staff in medical offices filing fraudulent insurance claims with your information or someone has been using your insurance information to obtain medical treatment, which can harm your health as well as your finances. The imposter’s medical information, such as his diagnosis of his condition, may appear on your medical record, exposing you to the risk of improper treatment, possibly leading to injury, illness or death.

In addition to being vigilant about protecting your personal documents, examine your explanation of benefits sent to you each time your insurer pays a claim on your behalf. I used to discard those without reading them. I don’t do that any more; now I look at them carefully and when I discard them, I use a document shredder.

Let's Raise Awareness

Allen “Rookie” Kruse, the 55-year-old charter fisherman who lost his livelihood in the Gulf Coast, committed suicide last week. He is the first known casualty of the disaster after the oil rig workers who lost their lives in the explosion. The psychological effects of disaster can be severe and unexpected. The morale in the Gulf Coast is admittedly low and those who are vulnerable, perhaps with prior addictions or other emotional issues (although there were no such issues in Mr. Kruse’s past) need special care. We respond very differently to disasters that are acts of God and acts of man. The latter appears to be more painful to the survivors, perhaps as we struggle to interpret what happened and what our fellow human beings did. In Prepare for the Worst, Plan for the Best: Disaster Preparedness and Recovery for Small Businesses (Wiley, second edition paperback 2009), I wrote (page 195) “Now I am going to make a politically incorrect statement. Be attentive to the emotional needs of the men in your life. I was impressed by the men in my life and how many of them suffered silently and perhaps put themselves at greater risk of illness and injury …. sometimes we forget the difficult burden of masculine conduct, so listen carefully and be particularly attentive to the men in your life, who may have needs that they are too embarrassed to admit.” And some of these reactions may be very delayed. So let’s do what we can to reach out and offer support.

A Tin Ear in Washington DC

Kenneth Feinberg, the man appointed by President Obama to administer a $20 billion fund to compensate Gulf Coast oil spill victims, promised to speed claims payments even as a federal judge considers a lawsuit to lift the moratorium on offshore drilling. The U.S. Department of the Interior stopped the approval of any new permits for deepwater drilling and suspended drilling at more than 30 existing exploratory wells in the Gulf of Mexico. But Hornbeck Offshore Services of Louisiana filed a lawsuit in which it claimed that the government acted arbitrarily without any proof that the operations posed a safety risk. Hornbeck claims that the moratorium causes additional hardship to Louisiana, which stands to lose thousands of jobs in the oil and gas industry, even as its fishing and tourism industries are already devastated by the oil spill. Today, Judge Martin Feldman heard arguments in the case in New Orleans federal court. He will issue his ruling by Wednesday. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal filed a brief with the court supporting the plaintiffs’ lawsuit. What is most outrageous about the federal government is that it did not consult Louisiana officials before imposing the moratorium, in violation of federal law. U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas in Houston listened to the New Orleans court hearing today by telephone. She is hearing a similar case against the federal government filed by a Texas-based operator of drilling rigs. Let’s hope that the judges send the federal government a clear message about abuse of power and overreach.

Not Just Memories

The weather was cold this weekend, so I took the opportunity to work on a long-standing business project: updating my inventory with digital photographs. I take pictures of key assets and record the information for insurance and personal replacement purposes. This is particularly important for assets that could be difficult to value, such as an aquarium or art work. I recommend doing this for both your business and home assets. It is not so overwhelming once you break the task down into manageable steps. I find it also helps me to make better purchasing decisions, as I know at my fingertips what I have. Indeed, with the 2010 hurricane season approaching, this task may assume particular urgency for small business owners in coastal areas. Once you get the base project done, updating for new purchases gives you an incentive to stay organized.

Recognizing Those Who Serve

I had occasion to read a letter to the editor captioned “Best Free Subscription Plea of the Month” in the now defunct Business 2.0 magazine. The author of the letter, Specialist Mickey Doto, described how he and his colleagues in the 252nd Infantry on duty in Iraq have to burn all trash before moving on to their next site. He happened upon a copy of the magazine and pulled it out of the fire so that he and his colleagues would have something to read. I immediately packaged and shipped a box of magazines to him in Iraq. Postal rates to U.S. military installations overseas are subsidized, such that I was able to ship 14 pounds of magazines for $2.90. I wrote to Specialist Doto that my choice of magazines reflected my own interests. As a small business owner, I subscribe to magazines such as Entrepreneur, Inc., Fortune Small Business and other publications relevant to my work. I offered to purchase at the newsstand any titles that he and his colleagues would prefer. Specialist Doto wrote back to me to say that I could not have made a better selection. As it turns out, the 252nd are reservists from the New York/New Jersey area called to active duty. Most of them are small business owners. Specialist Doto owns Dragons Way Karate Academy in New Jersey where he teaches martial arts to children. His bunk mate owns a car service in New Jersey that provides transportation to area airports. They were delighted to have something to read and connect them with home. Every week I ship a box of 14 pounds of magazines and am embarrassed that it is so little, but it appears to mean a lot to the men and women over there. We in the small business community have many unique ways to contribute and today we should reflect on how we may do so.

Plan Your Home Needs in Advance

In Prepare for the Worst, Plan for the Best: Disaster Preparedness and Recovery for Small Businesses (John Wiley & Sons Inc., second edition, 2008, first edition, 2002), I urged small businesses to prepare their homes and families for disasters and to encourage employees to prepare as well. This is critical to support the members of your small business family: give them the tools and information that they need to protect their families and households against the risk of disaster. It enables buy-in as employees can see the benefits of supporting the disaster plan for the small business: they can take this methodology home to benefit their families. It also proactively addresses recovery issues, as employees who are worried about the security of their homes and families in the immediate aftermath of a disaster are unlikely to be very productive in contributing to the essential recovery tasks of the business. Now add another benefit to family and home preparedness: long, long distractions brought about by post-disaster litigation.

QBE, an insurance company, is involved in litigation with Florida condominium residents concerning allegations over unpaid insurance claims arising from the 2005 hurricane season. Imagine what a stressful and unnecessary distraction this must be for the individuals concerned. This is yet another reason why you must prepare your home and family against the risk of disaster which includes carefully crafted insurance coverage and you must encourage your employees to do the same. And propose arbitration to resolve disputed issues with your insurance company. Both sides lose in lengthy litigation; only the lawyers win.