The audience will hear from someone who has been certified by the Insurance Institute of America as an Associate in Risk Management for over 40 years. Mike has extensive experience on both the buyer's and seller's sides of professional client services.
These days, there are many factors that contribute to the idea of uncertain times for SMBs – the pandemic, war-like conflicts around the world, dependence on technology that can be vulnerable to cyber-attacks are just a few that come to mind. It is nearly impossible to plan for all of the things that could go sideways as a business owner. That said, we have all heard "the show must go on," which is especially true if you have your own organization.
Our special guest this week is someone who you call proactively to make sure your SMB is in the ideal position to keep conducting business, no matter what happens out there.
We are joined by Mike Wiebe, Risk Management Advisor with Wiebe Associates, LLC. Mike's mission is to assist clients' businesses in as many ways as possible to cope with the “risks of doing business.” Mike and his team help our clients manage their risks while helping to protect and grow their businesses.
Wiebe Associates, LLC, acts as the business advisor for, business owners, professional service firms, Small Cap and Mid Cap CEOs, Boards of Directors, CFO, and HR Directors who want to control or reduce the cost of Risk Management and Insurance.
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Steven starts the show by mentioning what SMBs are, just in case people do not know what it means. The definition that he gives to us is that there are small and medium-sized businesses. He adds that for the last 20 years, he has been a consultant for SMBs. The topics that Steven speaks about are always popular themes that are on the minds of SMB leaders. He mentions that today's show is about business continuity during uncertain times these days. There are many factors that can contribute to different risks for small and medium-sized businesses like pandemics, technology, vulnerability to cyber attacks, etc. Steven says that you need to make sure the SMB is in the ideal position to keep conducting business no matter what's happening out there, so The Show Must Go On. He adds that the audience will hear someone who has a huge experience on both, the buyer's and seller's sides of professional client services. He keeps saying that it is important that if you have your own business you should have the right professional people around with the purpose of getting the right products for your company. Steven introduces his special guest; Mike Wiebe, Risk Management Advisor with Wiebe Associates, LLC and asks him about his journey. Mike answers that it started in 1973. After graduating with an engineering degree, he got a job offer from Pratt & Whitney to work on jet engines and then he also worked in an insurance company. Mike tells us he has been working in fire departments with different procedures and he worked for IBM for 13 years. At the end, he mentions that he went to work for several Insurance Brokers as Steven mentioned one ‘Marsh’ and worked on the selling side of some of these services that he had experience as a buyer and finally, he went off on his own risk management consulting firm. Steven says to him that he had this experience working with some really large corporate organizations. Myke says to us that it has been a big jump to manage the change of working for someone to do for himself. He adds it wasn’t entirely voluntary. He mentions that he worked for different corporate companies.
After the break, Steven asks Mike what he does in detail. He answers that concerning businesses we are living in uncertain times because of some factors like pandemic, wars, etc. It is very important to have everything under control to mitigate the probable impact on the way we manage our businesses. Steven agrees with his thoughts. Mike highlights the importance that business owners should be optimistic or they wouldn't be in business for themselves if they were thinking about what could go wrong all the time. Steven states that when things happen, a businessman is not scrambling for an answer so the key is to have the correct plans with the best professionals. Mike adds that we need to be better than our neighbors and respond quicker to any kind of risk. Steven agrees with him. Mike starts talking about the relevance of the CEO's attitude, encouragement and confidence in their decisions for their Organization to maintain their reputation. Steven thinks that the work experience of Mike revolves around acting at different levels of the business. Mikes agrees with him and adds that it is because of the practice in lots of different scenarios.
In this segment, Steven starts talking about the method behind the madness that is Mike's world. He gives us a little taste of some of the madness of the nuclear disaster in Japan and this crazy week of cyberattacks. Mike refers to his personal and professional experience with one of his main clients who was very vulnerable because of the pandemic and the way both of them managed this critical situation. Another example that he mentions was the one of a nonprofessional client (a dentist). Steven keeps the idea of being prepared just in case any risk or crisis occurs. Mike also evidences the experience he has got at the moment of solving the methods that hackers may use.
In this last segment, Steven talks about the importance of the reaction and answers to any particular problem. It is important to think about it, analyze it and make decisions to solve it. Mike adds that sometimes it is crucial to get out of the problem and talk about it in an objective perspective.
