“Supply & Employment Issues: Why Business Owners Should Check Their Coverage” w/ Mark Furman of TBHR

Jeffrey (1s):
Well, hello everyone. And welcome back to Radio Entrepreneurs. Boy, it’s really nice to be back in my chair, working again, been a lot going on in my world as there isn’t a lot of other people’s worlds and glad to always have Mark Furman here. Director of Tarlow, Breed, Hart, and Rogers. We’re going to talk today about, yeah, I’ve said to mark, you know, being an attorney or I’m a management consultant, you know, we’re service people, our clients, it’s like the weather report every day. You know, this, the stock market there’s inflation, there’s supply and demand and product issues. There’s employment issues. We’re trying to find employees, employee laws changing. I mean, I would assume that the world of law servicing the, the world of law is a lot different than it was 15, 10 years ago.

Jeffrey (48s):
In terms of the pace of change when it comes to servicing mark.

Mark (53s):
Well, there’s been tremendous changes, but you know, we live in, I think very exciting, but very challenging times. And I think it’s particular challenges for business owners, whether you own a law firm or a management consulting firm, or you’re a manufacturer, a retailer, you know, things change and so rapidly. Now we’re dealing with tremendous challenges in terms of access to products, the cost of products, supply and demand issues, or supply chain, disruption issues, firm from COVID the challenge of finding and retaining great employees to, to help your business grow the free mobility.

Mark (2m 4s):
The increased mobility for employees who many of whom can now work from anywhere, not just anywhere in the area, anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. And these are really unprecedented times that way. So, you know, a lot of the cases that I’ve been seeing recently have been companies who agreed to supply products and those products are simply either not available or the price has quadrupled.

Mark (2m 46s):
And if they’re able to obtain the product, they won’t stay in business very long because the prices have gone through the roof to, to shortages and, you know, across a number of different industries, the employment issues, employment issues are always important for businesses. I’ll make my, if not weekly, bi-weekly pitch to make sure you consider employment practices insurance. Right now, we have to deal with, you know, what are the rules regarding return to work?

Mark (3m 28s):
You’re gonna require vaccinations. How are you going to deal with religious exemptions? How are you going to deal with medical exemptions? Are you going to require testing for everyone, for unvaccinated people? What are, what are the rules of the road for employ employers and workplaces in 2021 beyond do not have the feeling that COVID is going to have a hard stop in 2021.

Mark (4m 8s):
It’s I think these types of issues are going to be with us for a while. And you know, the good thing I think is business owners and entrepreneurs are nimble. They make decisions. They make tons of decisions every day, or they don’t stay in business very long, Good decisions with the help of management consultants like you and hopefully lawyers and accountants, financial advisors, but they have to make decisions it’s different when you’re in a bureaucracy.

Jeffrey (4m 51s):
It’s amazing mark, you know, for me, cause you mentioned, mentioned management consultants. You know, it used to be that, you know, a year at a year would be, I’d be in an up economy or a down economy. And I used to say to people, I just like an economy that has changed going on because I’m helping people to deal with change. But now the we’ve been going through daily change for almost two years now. It’s people real and, and I don’t see an end to it. I just see that’s that’s the new normal, the new normal is what’s next it’s it’s, there’s always something.

Mark (5m 31s):
Absolutely. And I, and I think this is, this is where being aware of changes and the need to respond to changes is critical to the survival of businesses. I mean, I think in my career, the biggest companies in this no longer exists, digital equipment corporation, Wayne corporation. I mean, there’s so many ways that new companies can innovate and challenge.

Mark (6m 15s):
You know, what’s worked in the past. What worked in the past doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to work in the future, but so we, we all need to be nimble and in our work life and, you know, running a business is not easy as, as you know, Jeffrey, but being ahead of the curve is what in being realistic and not being overextended. Those are just having emotional intelligence.

Mark (6m 57s):
Those are just some of the keys to successfully running a business, a client of mine. You still like to say there’s three rules in business, survive, survive, and don’t forget the first two rules, you know, survival takes a lot in business, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.

Jeffrey (7m 26s):
Well, I think also for those, those who really like to learn and adapt you’re right, make good decisions, don’t think that they have all the answers themselves on the way things were done in the past. Can’t be the way things are necessarily done in the future. Their rigidity is not necessarily going to help anyone survive. I’m just wondering, flipping the coin. You know, when you look inside of a law firm is a law firm different today than it was before.

Mark (7m 56s):
Well, I mean, I mean, I would say yes, technology, you know, has created a, it’s really a revolution and in how Lara practice and the pace of technology is astounding. I mean, I would say not too long ago with the COVID 19 pandemic hip academies, law firms, everything would have stopped, but because of technology, people were able to carry on business transactions kept occurring disputes got resolve, maybe not as fast because there were times that the courts were closed, but the adoption of zoom technology to courtroom proceedings being able to handle so many non jury matters effectively remotely, you know, as kept, has kept things going, we’ve closed all sorts of commercial real estate transactions, corporate transactions.

Mark (9m 33s):
Of course, people are acutely aware that everyone is eventually going to die and there’s always changing or potential changes in tax laws. So has been opportunities for sophisticated estate planning. There’s been some creative solutions to dealing with business disputes. As you know, I do a lot of that kind of work disputes between companies disputes between between partners. There are people are taking advantage of mediation, which works well in remotely arbitration.

Mark (10m 20s):
It’s no jury involved and courts are now offering many juries consisting of a few judges. So you have a judge and then you have a few other judges who sit as jurors and then traditional jury trials as well. So, you know, we’re moving the ball forward on cases. And, and I think the legal industry is just one area I being, I think throughout the economy, people are, have adjusted because of the revolution and technology.

Mark (11m 10s):
So I dunno, it’s a very exciting time in many ways. It’s always scary. It’s never boring. It’s not boring. One of the things I love about what I do is every case is different. It’s another problem to be solved. I know you feel the same way with each client. You take on that. It’s, you know, it’s not cookie cutter and each situation is unique and the solution has to be unique. And, and that’s where I think having seasoned advisors who maybe have a little bit of wear on the tires, even if they’re stiff, still incredibly handsome and beautiful and all of that in their own minds, at least still are really important for all types of business.

Jeffrey (12m 12s):
Well, you know, I remember, you know, when I started working in the 1970s and my mentors would tell me about experience versus talent and I was offended. And now that I’ve worked like you with hundreds of companies and you know, today I’ve had dozens of emails and texts and I’ve already had two meetings and I’m going off to new meetings, each meeting and each tasks, each email presents a new situation, a new problem, a new opportunity. And you have to have, you know, some of you said emotional intelligence, some talent and experience to be able to deal with these things calmly with knowledge that you know how to deal with these things.

Jeffrey (12m 56s):
So I agree with you, you know, I think you bring a lot of wisdom and the perspective of the law to the business. If someone’s looking for you with Tarlow breed, heart and Rogers, how would they find you?

Mark (13m 9s):
I can be reached at 6 1 7 2 1 8 2 0 2 5. That’s my direct line. My email is M Ferman, F U R M a n@tbhr-law.com.

Jeffrey (13m 26s):
Well, mark, it’s always a pleasure talking with you and remind everybody, this was mark Fermin. And is mark Berman. We’re talking to, this is radio entrepreneurs and we’ll have more stories to follow.