Mastering Risk

Send us Fan Mail Is AI secretly putting your small business at risk? You’re using ChatGPT, Grok, or Claude to save time, writing proposals, summarizing data, generating ideas and it feels like a superpower. But there’s one massive danger almost every side hustler and small business owner is completely overlooking… and it’s not coming from hackers sneaking in the back door. It’s walking right throu...

Send us Fan Mail Your entire business can vanish tomorrow morning  One ransomeware email, one fake invoice, one missed update and poof: Shopify gone, Stripe locked, courses deleted, customer list encrypted. 90% of SMB face a significant disruption every quarter, some never recover. But here is the truth: There are near-free strategies to survive and thrive in 2026 We offer the exact five dead-simp...

Send us Fan Mail Are you ready for what’s really coming in 2026? Most business owners aren’t—and that’s exactly why so many solopreneurs, micro-businesses, and small companies get blindsided. In this episode of Mastering Risk, Dr. D breaks down the global turbulence ahead and gives you a real-world framework to hedge against the threats you can’t see coming—but absolutely should. Forget the clickb...

Send us Fan Mail In a world overflowing with hype, half-truths, and “million-dollar-in-90-days” promises, Mastering Risk cuts through the noise with something radical: honesty . In this powerful episode, Dr. D takes you inside the real engine of sustainable business success—trust. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, a side-hustler, or the owner of a small but mighty business, this conversation del...

Send us Fan Mail Tired of gurus promising you’ll be a millionaire in 12 months? Let’s talk reality. According to official stats, only 5% of businesses ever hit 7 figures… and 75% stay under six figures. The good news? A profitable five-figure business ($10K–$99K) is 100% achievable in 2026 — and it can add $2,000–$7,000+ per month to your family’s income without quitting your job. In this no-BS ep...

Send us Fan Mail What if your business was gone tomorrow – fire, flood, ransomware, or a simple power outage? 60% of SMBs that suffer a major disruption without a tested plan close forever within 12 months.  In 2025, one bad day can erase everything you’ve built. I’m Dr. D – risk management advisor to entrepreneurs and SMB owners. In this episode I’m pulling back the curtain on the exact 5-part co...

Send us Fan Mail Every quarter, 90% of small businesses get blindsided by a major disruption—cyberattack, supply-chain meltdown, reputational firestorm, or a strategic curveball they never saw coming. Of those that get hit hard, 40% never reopen their doors. Another 25% limp along for a few months and then quietly fold. That’s the brutal reality of going it alone in today’s chaotic economy. But he...

Send us Fan Mail In this no-fluff episode, Dr. D reveals the exact 4-step framework he uses to keep his fully digital small business running when the world goes sideways, whether it’s a week-long blackout, a nationwide internet outage, a cyber attack, or any other disruption to the systems we all take for granted. Most entrepreneurs blindly assume the power will stay on, the internet will work, an...

Send us Fan Mail If you're considering starting, or just have started an entrepreneurial adventure, listen to these ten reasons why new businesses fail. Time tested, taken from the graves of over 1000 ventures, this list will provide in depth insight to avoid the pitfalls, leverage risk and embrace the uncertainty of being your own boss. From no-market products, poor avatar marketing to #10 w...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine the coming year, more economic, political and natural disasters, interfering with your business and personal plans. From evacuation to mental health, building reflection muscle and becoming prepared to be fired tomorrow. Are you ready, is your business insulated? Free - no money required, just commitment, time and effort. So you have no excuse not to be ready. Will you inv...

Send us Fan Mail 2026 will see incredible disruption. How can the solo-entrepreneur or SMB be ready? These top 3 risks reflect what is likely to occur, from a tariff tsunami, to AI phishing / spoofing to a race to tax corporations, chasing them across the globe. Are you ready to exploit the opportunities, are you prepared to have your reputation challenged by an AI bot pretending to be you? https:...

Send us Fan Mail Is your position, field or employer ready for the coming AI onslaught? We breakdown the stages of AI adoption rollout, across which markets are primed for penetration and what role cultural preference plays in acceptance of AI automation. What can you do, what steps are available to you to mitigate this risk? We layout a roadmap for your to consider, to be ready as you can, for th...

Send us Fan Mail The why - because we exist in a time of increased political, economic and natural disasters, all of which are out of our control. They influence and impact our lives, yet we have such little say in their why. Chaos loves uncertainty - that's why we created Mastering Risk, the preparedness, risk, resilience, business continuity, cyber protocol and a series of educational oppri...

Send us Fan Mail Seize the Day, choose to be responsible for your outcomes and dominate this world. We hear that all the time, but how? Three free ways: First, own your life - your physical, mental and financial health are all your responsibility, no one is coming to save you and it is your responsibility to pay your bills. Second, know the rules - the political and economic overlords / owners wil...

Send us Fan Mail The pressure is relentless, to adopt even the most unique offerings of AI, under the symbolic - or real - threat of corporate irrelevancy. Whether presented in the form of the latest influencer YouTube video, an offering to learn AI in 28 days, or the advocacy for the firing of the entire white collar workforce, we are inundated with the threat of being at the precipice of a revol...

Send us Fan Mail Creating your own business and generating income is your get to be resilient in a world of AI business and employment disruptions. There are only three ways to earn an income. First, a profession with its rules, regulations, training standards and membership requirements. Second, is an entrepreneurial venture where you solve a problem people hav in exchange for money. If you do no...

Send us Fan Mail Entrepreneurs are great dreamers, pouring exceptional time and resources into their dream, often without understanding the risks they chose to accept, willingly or not, when they jumped in. Strategic, Operational, Cyber and Reputational Risk. That's it. Embrace, understand, mitigate and launch your dream. https://preparednesslabs.ca Support the show https://preparednesslabs.c...

Send us Fan Mail How do we ready our entrepreneurial ventures to succeed and excel in these times of increased political, economic and natural disasters? Understanding your risk profile across strategic, operational, cyber and reputational areas is key. Knowledge is power, learn about how to identify risk and be aware of what risks exist because of how you choose to do business. Embrace risk, buil...

Send us Fan Mail From the A1 to C3, the newspaper is drowning in chaos, disturbances and the growing call for significant change in our world. For those who never had the pleasure of reading a full newspaper over morning coffee, that’s the meat, before the comics and entertainment sections, though they might just be a better, more sane bet these days. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambigu...

Send us Fan Mail Life evolves, as the world changes around us, we need to periodically verify that we remain a value added to the population. Inside My Canoehead has been on the air for over 5 years, throughout the pandemic and will continue to live on, but under a new name, similar concept, but retaining the values of integrity and keeping our mission: Non-apocalyptic, evidence-based, risk, resil...

Send us Fan Mail When we consider financial resiliency in this modern era, we first need to accept resiliency means to you. There are no shortages of definitions of resiliency, in my humble opinion, it is the most abused term in the discipline. As a social scientist, I often lean to our natural scientist colleagues to seek clarity, for their world is far more binary and straightforward, at least i...

Send us Fan Mail Conspiracy Theorist? Crazy Trucker dude in Ottawa? Anti-Government Mafia, Antifa? Or maybe just a normal person, living in suburbia who accepts responsibility for their outcomes, understands there is a possibility that one or more sectors of critical infrastructure main fail for an extended period and that the government is not coming to save their family. We begin with a rant on...

Send us Fan Mail Forests are an incredible creation of nature, a magical blend of species - sustainable, resilient and awe-inspiring beauty. Only humans would have the audacity to harm such a brilliant resource. The intentional destruction of the boreal forest in Canada has been a sustained effort of governments for decades. The wildfires of 2023 and 2025 are the foreseeable result of policy failu...

Send us Fan Mail Etsy Store, Shopify or 1 Mil per year service business, they're all exposed to risk - cyber, reputational and operational. What strategies help in mitigating exposure to nefarious actors. How, as a solo entrepreneur, can you protect your online store and business from harm, when you don't have a high priced consultant, nor response teams embedded in your operation. You d...

Send us Fan Mail Every anniversary deserves celebration, we have so much to be thankful for: friends, family, accomplishments and reaching goals. We should never lose the childish joy of horns, goofy hats, paper plates and cake.  Today, July 28th, marks the five year anniversary of my company, Preparedness Labs Incorporated (PLI). It was born from the realization that Canadians were abjectly unpre...