Discussing Death
Originally sent exclusively to The Letter subscribers on September 1st. Want to be the first to get my personal newsletter in your inbox every Monday at 7am? Subscribe for free here.
In my quest to never eat alone and to make mealtimes a valuable use of my time, to delve into fascinating conversation, I’d like to share a story from two dinners I had this week.
Both featured my accountant.
At the first dinner, we were joined by friends and fellow business owners.
As usual, our “greatest hits” came up.
You know them well; We talked about the government and the calamity of stagflation - a disaster for our great nation of shopkeepers.
No growth, yet ever more taxes from our biggest shareholder, who neither does the work nor takes any of the risk! Call them HMRC or number 10 Downing St, they thief before we make a bean for ourselves in an ever increasing cocktail of turnover taxes.
From there, the conversation turned to which sectors are thriving and which are struggling. Construction and haulage, for example, are having a tough time according to the Number Ninja!
We also discussed what drives individuals to achieve extraordinary success.
The number Ninja (John’s his real name if you was wondering) shared the “isms” of his most successful clients - their common traits. He suggested I was a particularly peculiar case.
He thinks I may have a dose of ADHD and perhaps even autism.
He said I remember too much and juggle far more plates to well than the average Homo sapiens.
I’m still not sure how I feel about that.
Ultimately, we agreed that the defining trait of those who reach great heights is a relentless persistence in pursuit of their passion.
The following evening, it was just the two of us.
Still not sure if John would label me with anything else. Maybe a workaholic? Guilty.
John wanted to catch up on my various conquests - in other words, my land grabs. We spoke about acquisitions and growth.
People no longer bother giving me the “caution to the wind” talk or the boring “you’re doing a lot” talk, it’s pointless - I’m already on the journey, the ships set sail.
These days, people simply listen and work out what they’ll have to deal with in my wake.
They know my capacity, my capabilities, and my drive. I’m getting things done, and the wind is in my sail.
It takes a special breed to work alongside someone like me, and I appreciate them all greatly. John, my accountant, said most of his team would burn out if they had to manage me directly.
But what he really wanted to discuss over our “romantic” one-to-one dinner was death - and my plans for the inevitable.
Which, I should say, I hope is a very long way off.
I feel a bit like the late Queen; whom had regular meetings about her inevitable demise from a very young age - for my little kingdom this has become a topic that must be discussed deeply regularly, to protect jobs, livelihoods, and of course my loved ones.
Writing a will and being prepared is simply something a responsible person must do.
The recent changes in tax relief on business assets after death are bad news for continuity right now till this changes, my best advice is do not die.
I urge anyone in business to seek advice now.
Failing to plan could be very costly - for loved ones, for families, and for the jobs we leave behind. After all, those we leave may not be as resourceful as us entrepreneurial folk.
Here’s a quote I shared on “Interesting fact or quote of the week” a little segment on my podcast (if you didn’t know about the pod listen here) Was this little corker, especially good to get you through a tough time….
“Smooth seas don’t make skilled sailors.”
Lean into the difficulty, use it and master each challenge! Become stronger. You might as well!
Join me at one of our live seminars here.
Share this newsletter with a fellow Entrepreneur here.
And Lastly, this week I went to a nudist beach, the first few hours were the hardest.
To your continued success,
James
PS. Have you listened to our podcast — The Business Broadcast: Real business owners, real challenges, real solutions? Why not apply to come on the show and get honest advice from JB and me! Here’s the link if you’d like us to help your business.