Simple Sense for Small Business

Stress isn't always about the circumstances. Sometimes it's how someone REACTS to the circumstances, and then makes it everyone else's problem. We recently experienced this firsthand with a landlord. The building experienced a leak. A legitimate problem. Stressful? Absolutely.

But here’s what happened next: Instead of handling it with the situational awareness that comes with owning a building, they abandoned all logic, all empathy, and all professional responsibility.

They began operating as if WE, the tenants, were somehow responsible for managing THEIR decision making, THEIR repair timeline, and the outcome of THEIR insurance claim.

They literally and passive-aggressively threatened our security deposit because of the outcome of THEIR decisions.

And when we pushed back? They actually shamed us because other tenants were “cooperating.”

This is a pattern we see in business too, and honestly, in life.

* Something goes wrong
* Instead of owning the situation, someone else must absorb the chaos
* Empathy disappears
* Situational awareness disappears

And suddenly the person with the least responsibility carries the most burden

Here’s the lesson underneath, as I see it for all of this:

How you handle adversity tells everyone around you exactly who you are.

👀Employees are watching
👀Customers are watching
👀Vendors are watching
👀Tenants are watching

𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒕.

If your default under pressure is to abandon empathy, deflect responsibility, and make someone else pay for your decisions and subsequent consequences, that’s not a stress response.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜.

For small business owners, your reputation is your most valuable, unquantifiable, and uninsurable asset. These experiences compound:

🔎 One vendor relationship torched unnecessarily
🔎 One team member blamed for your bad day
🔎 One claim dispute handled badly

Situational awareness is not a soft skill. It’s a survival skill in business.

#SmallBusiness #Leadership #BizGlitch366 #SimpleSenseForSmallBusiness #SituationalAwareness #Empathy #StressManagement #BusinessMindset #Accountability

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2

Simple Sense for Small Business

Mugs I wish I had these when I was working. Hahahaahhahaha

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 5

Simple Sense for Small Business

Today is #InsuranceAwarenessDay. After 35+ years, here are 10 mistakes I saw over and over again for decades.

1️⃣ NOT REVIEWING YOUR POLICY EVERY YEAR. Your life changes. An annual review is the easiest way to find savings AND gaps before it costs you & you 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆 your agent.

𝓘𝓷𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓲𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽.

2️⃣ NOT KNOWING WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE. Most people can tell you what they're paying. Very few can tell you what's NOT covered. That gap matters when you need it the most.

3️⃣ CALLING IT "FLOOD" WHEN IT'S A PIPE BURST. A burst pipe is water damage, typically covered by your homeowners policy. Flood is rising water from outside your home, covered ONLY by a separate flood policy.

𝑼𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎.

4️⃣ NOT HIRING A PUBLIC ADJUSTER FOR A MAJOR LOSS. Insurance carrier adjusters work for THEM. A public adjuster works for YOU and can often negotiate a higher settlement.

5️⃣ SKIPPING UNINSURED/UNDERINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE. Some states mandate UM/UIM coverage. Mandatory doesn't mean adequate. Most people never ask for it, because most agents never bring it up unless you do. Nationally, roughly 1 in 3 drivers is either uninsured or underinsured.

That's not a rare scenario. That’s a coin flip. Ask what your limits are, and ask what doubling them would cost.

6️⃣ ASSUMING YOUR HOMEOWNER POLICY COVERS YOUR HOME BIZ. Your standard homeowners policy likely excludes business equipment, liability, and inventory.

𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓪 𝓻𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝓼𝓮𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓹𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓬𝔂.

7️⃣ UNDERESTIMATING YOUR DWELLING COVERAGE. Rebuilding costs have skyrocketed. If your dwelling coverage hasn't kept pace with construction inflation, you could be underinsured without knowing it. When that happens, they pro-rate the coverage in a partial loss. Know if and by how much your carrier increases your dwelling coverage.

8️⃣ NOT DOCUMENTING YOUR BELONGINGS. Most people cannot list everything they own from memory during a claim. A simple video walkthrough of your home, updated yearly, can be the difference between a smooth claim and a fight.

9️⃣ ASSUMING YOUR AGENT IS REVIEWING YOUR POLICY. A good agent will proactively review your insurance package and reach out before your renewal and flag gaps. But not every agent does this well. You are allowed to ask direct questions. You’re allowed to switch agents.

🔟 NOT UNDERSTANDING YOUR DEDUCTIBLE. See how much higher deductibles affect your premiums. Insurance companies don’t care about your budget. That’s your job.

Insurance is boring, and why most people don’t pay attention, until the day it's the most important phone call you'll ever make. And even then....

Someone 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 tends to place blame elsewhere before they consider the decision, or 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, when they purchased it.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 5

Simple Sense for Small Business

Today's Glitch is important for many because it's HURRICANE SEASON. But there are lots of natural disasters that could impact a business.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 5

Simple Sense for Small Business

Both of us have had personal experiences with control freaks at work. YOU?
https://youtu.be/T23TRnS77oA?si=M8sMJ...

1 month ago | [YT] | 5

Simple Sense for Small Business

This image explains my pet peeve perfectly, it spells 𝗖-𝗢-𝗠-𝗣-𝗟-𝗔-𝗖-𝗘-𝗡-𝗖-𝗬. Someone commented on our ‪@CTRoadTrips‬ video asking whether the town was Portland, MA or Portland, OR.

1️⃣ The channel is called CT Road Trips
2️⃣ The title of the video says CT.
3️⃣ The location tag says Portland, CT.

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕...
𝟑 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕.

We’re not sharing this for the eye roll. We’re sharing this because this level of inattention shows up daily on truly important business issues, with real consequences.

We’ve watched it play out for six (6) years on our ‪@EIDLExperts‬ channel.

The SBA COVID EIDL was a 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛-𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙, 𝙙𝙤-𝙞𝙩-𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 federal loan program. It required business owners to read, track, and manage the details of a federal loan agreement. For many, that was simply too much to ask.

Not because they're not bright, but because they WEREN'T paying attention.
They skimmed. They assumed. Thus, the results were predictable.
Missed deadlines. Compliance violations. Federal collection action. Assets on the line.

𝓒𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓬𝔂 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓪 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓻𝓴.

In business, it’s a liability. The information is almost always available.
The question is whether you’re paying attention to find it.

Stay curious. Your brain will thank you.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

Simple Sense for Small Business

This Glitch could be right up there with SALES because it requires interacting with clients. June 5th Glitch #157: https://youtu.be/j9mhOBX1_wY

1 month ago | [YT] | 4

Simple Sense for Small Business

I'm seeing and hearing how YouTube is strangling larger channels. Therefore, I can only imagine what they're doing with lesser-known, smaller channels. Please make sure that you're 1. SUBSCRIBED and 2. And your notification BELL is set to ALL to make sure our new videos rank in your notifications. We really appreciate it!! Thank you in advance!!

1 month ago | [YT] | 5

Simple Sense for Small Business

PET PEEVE of the Week: A 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗺 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 is one of the most expensive habits a business owner can have. I said what I said. And before anyone comes for me, let me be clear. I’m not talking about people who have experienced genuine trauma, hardship, or systemic barriers. That’s real, and it deserves respect.

I’m talking about the pattern, the habit, the default setting of making every uncomfortable situation someone else's fault.

The control you have over your 𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷-𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 also determines 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔.

There are people who play the victim when things get uncomfortable or inconvenient. They turn every inconvenience into an injustice. They collect evidence for why things cannot work instead of figuring out how to make them work.

For small business owners, victim mentality is a silent killer. It sounds like:

❌ "The economy is why my business isn't growing."
❌ "Nobody supports small businesses anymore."
❌ "I would have succeeded if people hadn't gotten in my way."
❌ "It's not fair that big corporations have more resources."

And yes, 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 external forces are REAL. The economy is genuinely brutal right now. Tariffs, inflation, and corporate consolidation are genuinely stacked against Main Street.

But here is the difference between acknowledging reality and living in a victim mentality:

One is information. The other is an excuse. Information says, "𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐴𝑁𝐷 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼’𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡." Excuse says, "𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙. 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧?”

Victim mentality removes 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. It explains away every gap between where you are and where you want to be.

The most resilient business owners I know, the ones still standing after decades, after recessions, after pandemics, after the struggle du jour, share one thing in common:

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨.

✅ You’re allowed to feel frustrated.
✅ You’re allowed to grieve what didn't work.
✅ You’re allowed to acknowledge that the system is rigged.

AND THEN you have to decide what you’re going to do with it.

Nobody’s coming to save your business.
Nobody’s coming to save your life.

What are you going to do about it?

#SmallBusiness #Mindset #VictimMentality #Accountability #BizGlitch366 #SimpleSenseForSmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #ToughLove #GrowthMindset

1 month ago | [YT] | 8

Simple Sense for Small Business

The Full Moon on May 31st is a Blue Moon, the second full moon in a single month, and that alone makes it rare. As I was shuffling, THE MOON card jumped out on its own. Unsolicited. Cards that leap from the deck do not get chosen. They choose US.

Then I drew the 10 of Swords. THEN, at the very bottom of the deck sat the 10 of Cups. Here is what I noticed before I even interpreted a single card:

🌕 TWO TENS showcase powerful completion energy
🌕 ALL THREE cards share a blue background. This could be subconscious energy
🌕 TWO CARDS carry the sun in their backgrounds
🌕 ALL THREE cards have yellow highlights
🌕 10 of Swords, the darkest card, carries a sunrise inside it. The new day is already breaking.

THE MOON, jumping uninvited, could be something that's been operating in shadow, hidden, uncertain. Maybe even an illusion we’ve been telling ourselves about the business, its direction, or our next move.

Two tens double down on something is coming to completion. The question is, what?
For small business owners, this Blue Moon spread is asking:

📌 What illusions in your business are you ready to release?
📌 What has ended that you may be trying to resuscitate?
📌 Can you see your own sunrise in your business?
📌 What joy are you ready to accept?

The Moon jumping out of the deck could mean our intuition is already trying to lead. The only question is whether we’ll let it. For me, I need to trust my intuition more. Not as a mystical concept, but as data.

We have more intel in our gut than any spreadsheet can capture.

What is completing in your world right now?

PS: Another 10 card was picked YESTERDAY! youtube.com/post/UgkxttBkEbc9-CnmiV3ujOtukVFwcuh5_…

#BlueMoon #FullMoon #TarotForBusiness #SmallBusiness #SimpleSenseForSmallBusiness #Intuition #BizGlitch366 #MoonRitual

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 5