As I write this introduction, nearly 30 individuals from the hospitality industry have gathered at the Thompson House Eatery to participate in an Alcohol Training & Certification course that we are sponsoring. It is a great group of the Valley's finest, all eager willing to sit through a 5-hour teaching and exam that will prepare them to help prevent underage drinking, intoxication and DWI, and serve responsibly (and help them reduce their liquor liability insurance costs).

When the instructor showed up and was told that 26 had signed up for the class, he muttered something about us being lucky if 15 came. His previous experience had taught him that the odds of everyone who signed up actually coming were slim. Actually, if 70% of those registered made it to the class, he would consider that a strong showing.

Care to wager a guess at how many participants walked through the door? There were 28 (I'm glad we planned lunch based on our figures and not the instructor's!). Aside from telling me that our local establishments care a great deal about operating responsibly, the turnout also reminded me of a couple of other things:

1) 43.6 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot, and 2) statistics can be deceiving.

Ok, so the first half of that may or may not be true. I don't know (I made it up). But the second part - the bit about statistics being deceiving - that's absolutely true. Take our example from this morning. The instructor was pretty confident that he'd have low attendance in this class, and he certainly didn't expect MORE than the number registered to show up. While statistics may be an accurate guide most of the time, they are not foolproof, and can't be trusted as an absolute.

The same is true of the challenges that your business faces every day. The odds that a fire is going to destroy your place of business are probably very low. The likelihood that you'll have an accident on the way home this afternoon that totals your car may be slightly higher, but not much. This doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't take steps to protect yourself from these types of threats with a comprehensive insurance program. While you can take comfort from knowing that the odds are in your favor, you can find peace in knowing that if the statistics don't bear up the way you think they will, your business will be covered.