Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/611148
www.HartfordBusiness.com December 7, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 37 BIZ BOOKS How 'serial winners' maintain long-term success "S erial Winner — 5 Actions to Cre- ate Your Cycle of Success" by Larry Weidel (Greenleaf Book Group Press, $21.95). As I turned the pages, I thought of Mitch Albom, an award-winning journalist, author of numerous best sellers, creator of musical scores and radio show host, who also estab- lished charities in Haiti and Detroit. We all know people with similar track records of success. How do they get it all done? They have the same 24 hours a day that we do; they just use them better than most. Their drive and ability to manage priorities sets them apart as "serial winners." Weidel, an accomplished performance coach, identified five, drive- and priority-related common threads, which create success: "Don't Hesitate, Decide." Don't let uncertainty deter action. Figure out what you want. See your "glass" as half full and decide what you must do to fill it. Gather facts and create an action plan and timeline. "Don't Just Do It, Overdo It." Con- vince yourself you can do it. Stay convinced by surrounding yourself with people who do more than encourage you; they point out how to improve your plan and actions. When things don't go as planned, increase your capacity to excel by doubling down on actions you take. Keep pushing yourself. "Don't Quit, Adjust." When actions don't yield progress, you have two choices: give up or keep going. Moving forward with a mindset of "improvise and adapt" makes you think about what else you can do when con- fronted with obstacles. "Don't Just Start, Fin- ish." Since you don't con- trol many of the elements that impact your plan and actions, you never really know where the finish line is. It's out there. If you think about your plan's action as a marathon not a sprint, you'll have the staying power to finish. "Don't Settle, Keep Improving." Don't settle for being a one-hit wonder. See life as a path of continuous improvement. Take what you've learned (especially from mistakes) and develop a to-do agenda. Takeaway: "The only questions that matter to winners are 'Do I really want it?' 'Does it really excite me?' " • • • "How to Start Your Very First Busi- ness" by Warren Buffett's Secret Mil- lionaires Club (Downtown Bookworks, $14.99). Warren Buffet started his first business when he was six; he bought candy, gum and soda in bulk and sold the products individu- ally. Capitalizing on Buffett's "You're never too young to start a business" theme, this book teaches kids the principles of entre- preneurship and financial responsibility. (There's plenty adults can learn, too.) Here are some key pieces of advice: Turn something you love into a business. Nine-year old Cameron Johnson loved to draw. In 1994, he created one-of-a-kind stationery and greeting cards for family cel- ebrations. Family, friends and his parent's coworkers want- ed to buy the cards. Word spread and his Cheers and Tears business prospered. Johnson became a tween- age entrepreneur; through Web-based ventures (the first was selling Bean- ie Babies on eBay) he became a millionaire by the time he finished high school. Find new customers for a popular product. When he was 13, Hart Main and his younger sister sold candles for a fund- raiser. He saw an opportunity to develop candles that would appeal to men — with fragrances like gunpowder, hot cocoa, fresh-cut grass, bacon and campfire. He chose soup cans, not glass jars, for packag- ing. Check out man-cans.com. Main saw a societal side to his busi- ness, too. The candles are produced in com- munity kitchens staffed by the developmentally disabled. A portion of the proceeds goes to the kitch- ens so they can provide meals to those less fortu- nate — over 100,000 meals so far. n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer. Jim Pawlak EXPERTS CORNER Cyber liability insurance a must for small biz By Joseph "Jay" Arcata W ith the holidays fast approaching, the phrases "data breach" or "cyber attack" are almost certain to reach the public consciousness, undoubtedly in reference to some large retail corporation that has been afflicted with one of the aforementioned ills. While cyber attacks on high-profile companies are often newsworthy for the scale and breadth of the breach, studies have shown that smaller businesses are actu- ally at greater risk of a data breach than their larger counterparts. If your business has a website, accepts credit or debit cards, stores information on a server or in any other electronic information repository, it is a target for cyber criminals. Cyber criminals can obtain customers' social security numbers, credit card numbers and other personal identi- fying information. In addition, they may also gain access to sensitive business information, such as bank account numbers or intellectual property. Recovering from a data breach can cost a business thousands of dollars as well as repu- tational harm. Despite this, small businesses may be unaware of the risks presented by cyber attacks or they may simply not have the resourc- es to ensure that their data is properly secured. Whatever the reason, the one step that small and medium-sized businesses can take to guard against the financial hardships that can result from a data breach is to purchase cyber-liability insurance. Regardless of size, essentially every organi- zation that uses technology to conduct its busi- ness faces cyber risks. Under Connecticut's new data security laws, effective Oct. 1, 2015, a data breach will require any person or entity conduct- ing business in Connecticut to give notice "with- out unreasonable delay," but no later than 90 days after discovery of the breach, to state residents whose personal information was breached or reasonably believed to have been breached. Of note, the law also requires the provision of at least 12 months of free identity theft preven- tion and mitigation services, but only in cases where Social Security numbers are breached or reasonably believed to have been breached. Cyber liability insurance is designed to cover the first and third-party risks associ- ated with doing business in the technologi- cal age. Coverage provided by a cyber liability policy may include: • Reimbursement for expenses incurred by your business in responding to a cov- ered event; • Notification costs to notify customers and other individuals impacted by a covered event; • Costs of credit monitoring and credit res- toration services provided to impacted individuals; • Public relations consultation expenses in the event of a covered event; • Loss of business income; and • Defense costs in the event that legal action is taken, including fines and penalties. When purchasing cyber-liability insurance, an important consideration is whether the pol- icy has "pay on behalf of" or "reimbursement" wording. A "pay on behalf of" policy requires the insurer to pay covered expenses directly, as opposed to having the insured pay and submit those expenses to the carrier for reimburse- ment. A "pay on behalf of" policy is generally preferable, albeit more expensive, as it does not require a business to pay for costs up front out of its own pocket and puts the onus on the insurer to manage the breach response process. Recovering from a data breach or other cyber attack can result in financial hardship to any business. According to a 2013 National Small Business Association survey, 44 percent of small business respondents suffered at least one cyber attack and lost an average of $8,699 in the process. In 2014, the number of small business respondents who suffered a cyber attack grew to 50 percent and associated losses more than doubled to $20,752. These incidents have become an expen- sive reality and, unfortunately, are not going away anytime soon. It is, therefore, impera- tive that small businesses take the necessary steps to mitigate these risks. n Joseph "Jay" Arcata is a partner at Hartford law firm Halloran & Sage, where he focuses insurance and business litigation. Joseph "Jay" Arcata ▶ ▶ When actions don't yield progress, you have two choices: give up or keep going. Moving forward with a mindset of improvise and adapt makes you think about what else you can do when confronted with obstacles. ▶ ▶ If your business has a website, accepts credit or debit cards, stores information on a server or in any other electronic information repository, it is a target for cyber criminals.