Dear Friend,
I've been thinking about something lately that I want to share with you.
Every business owner I know wants more of it. More of it would solve countless problems. Yet no bank can lend it. No investor can provide it. No customer can buy it. No employee can create it.
The one thing every business owner is running out of is time.
When we're young, we spend time trying to make money. As we get older, we begin spending money trying to save time. Funny how life works.
Over the years, I've watched business owners obsess over profits, margins, growth, sales, expenses — all the numbers that keep a business alive. But I've noticed something. The greatest businesses aren't built by people who understand money better than everyone else. They're built by people who understand time better than everyone else. Because time is the one investment you'll never get back.
A business owner came to me last year after a water damage claim at his facility. The loss itself was significant, but the coverage responded — mostly. What didn't respond was his business interruption policy, which hadn't been updated to reflect his current operations. The gap wasn't catastrophic financially. He could absorb it.
But the time it cost him nearly broke him.
For four months, his calendar no longer belonged to him. It belonged to the adjuster who needed documentation. The contractor who needed approvals. The attorney who needed depositions. The carrier's investigator who needed interviews. The accountant reconstructing lost records. The employees who needed direction every day because normal operations had stopped.
Four months of phone calls, paperwork, meetings, and stress — four months he should have spent growing his business, serving his customers, and being present with his family. Instead, he was managing a crisis that consumed every hour of every day.
When it was finally resolved, he didn't talk about the money. He looked at me and said, "John, I lost four months of my life. I can make the money back. I can't make the time back."
That conversation changed how I think about protection.
Every conversation you postpone costs time. Every contract you fail to review costs time. Every difficult decision you avoid costs time. Every protection issue you promise to "look at next month" costs time. And eventually, time sends you a bill.
I've met business owners who would gladly write a check for a million dollars if it would give them one week back — one week before the claim, one week before the lawsuit, one week before the fire, one week before the employee was injured. They weren't trying to buy money. They were trying to buy back time.
But time isn't for sale.
That's why preparation matters more than most people realize. Preparation is simply today's gift to tomorrow's version of yourself. You're solving tomorrow's problems while you still have today to solve them.
The older I get, the less I think protection is about avoiding financial loss. The more I think it's about preserving time. Time with your family. Time growing your business. Time serving your customers. Time building your legacy.
Because once a crisis begins, time no longer belongs to you. It belongs to attorneys, adjusters, investigators, experts, court dates, paperwork, phone calls, and stress. The calendar that once belonged to you suddenly belongs to the crisis.
Protection gives you something many people never think about. It gives you tomorrow. A tomorrow where you're building instead of recovering. Moving forward instead of looking back. Leading your business instead of managing a disaster.
That's worth more than any premium you'll ever pay.
Protection Principle #7: The greatest investment you'll ever protect isn't your money. It's your time. Spend it building your future — not recovering from preventable mistakes.
Continue the Journey
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Before you leave your office today, ask yourself one question:
"Am I spending my time building my future — or fixing yesterday's preventable mistakes?"
Your answer may reveal more than your calendar ever will.
Protecting what matters,
John Crist Founder, Prestizia Insurance Founder, The Protection Circle Author, The Prestizia Protection Playbook