Suzilla: Family Business Podcast

The prepared mindset

Do you have a long term mindset or short term mindset. We work with Insurance which involves long term planning. There are little steps that you can do that a little bit of planning smooths out problems before they occur. This week we get into little steps that we have done over the year that have allowed us to do better this year despite financial disaster. 

Old reliable verses new innovation

How do you stay in business for years in the insurance industry that is ripe with change? We are going to talk about the myth of the old reliable. As businesses, we hear managers use the phrase find out what works and do that. Well what happens when it get’s old? I read another story of a church that has been around for years closing it’s doors same issue. The reliance on the old reliable does not promote growth and relevance. So how do you do it. We are going talk about how we continue to refresh and prevent from getting stale.

All business is political

We have done insurance for years and to ignore the politics of it then we would be doing a disservice to our clients. Yes, they can lose their insurance at a politicians whim so we better speak up.

We fight day in and day out to put food on our table and if we are good our coworkers and employees. We talk about enrichment of our customer’s experience and yes that means we do our best to promote good policies that will continue prosperity for our community. When a business person says that they stay clear of politics then it just means they are concealing what they are doing. Let’s get into our woke experience.   

Why flexibility is better than strength.

After all these years of working insurance in Washington State. I can say without a doubt, I will pick flexibility over strength. It has lead to creativity, connecting with our community, growth, and duration. There are moments in the year that are natural flexibility points personally and for our business. We are going to talk about the small business superpower of flexibility. 

Social media is bigger than you think.

Yes, we run a little Insurance Office in Wenatchee where our Washington State find us from all over because of Social Media. We don’t live in the hills and come down for an annual gathering to get updates on the neighbors and supplies. Since the 80’s there has been methods to go online and exchange information and connect to people. We are going to talk about some of our successes and failures along the way. To ignore social media and it’s influence in 2024, not everyone has that hermit lifestyle.

The future is unstoppable and when you prepare you will join it.

Most people struggle with staying current and forget about the past. However if you want to be unstoppable in business then you need to understand what is current and what will come. Because there are steps that you can do in business that will fall into good timing in the future. We are talking about being prepared.

Where do you find Courage?

Courage is the most important of the virtues, because without it, no other virtue can be practiced consistently, said Maya Angelou. Sometimes it is tough putting that foot forward to a new life. To tell someone the truth. To just say no. How do you spot the lack of courage?

Failure is important

Very few of us are blessed with the ability to do everything perfectly the first time out. New experiences are a challenge. We fail, adjust and try again. It’s awkward learning and perhaps it gets more difficult as we age because we are afraid of looking foolish. Failure is how we gain skills and friendships. We are going to embrace failure today. Hug it and keep going.

How do you run in Quicksand?

Have you checked your foundation recently? Stepped back and took a look to see if you are on sound principles. Back in the day, we called it keeping it real. It doesn’t mean that you have to be a jerk. It means that do not be surprised if someone uses you to set the tone. If you do not understand your foundation then it will hurt if someone turns you into an example. Let’s look for some red flags and open some doors on today’s Suzilla.

What is the value of other people's opinions?

If it wasn’t for another person asking a question and me caring about them, Suzie and I wouldn’t have an insurance business. With all of the shouting and division going on there is a push to forget that If you want to connect with people that you have to do more than outrage. You have to value other people’s opinions. We are going to tackle other people opinion and even advise on today’s Suzilla.