As I was debating on what awesomeness I would bring you this week… I was thinking about the Tropical Storm Bill that was hanging out in the Gulf. I was thinking, what if I lose power, what do I need to do so my business goes uninterrupted. This made me think of all of the other things I have to consider as a business owner when Mother Nature strikes and thought I’d share with you all.
Do you have a plan?
Obviously we can’t control the weather and when it will occur but it’s never convenient so do you have a plan? If you were to lose power for a day, do you have a Plan B place to work, if you work from a home office? What if you lost power for a week – how would you get stuff done?
Power surge and back up
Power is one of my biggest concerns because I work online, or on a computer for all of my hours. I have backups of my work on an external hard drive, some stuff in Dropbox and then also everything backed up using CrashPlan. So, I can take my laptop or even get to my stuff on someone else’s computer, like the library, if I had to. What about you? Do you have backups of your files, client data, or whatever it is that you do and need?
Flooding drama or house fire
If your home became a big old swimming pool and it devoured your desktop… quick, grab the laptop! However, as noted above, I am quite able to pull up my emails, my client data, my invoicing all at a computer safely in a library or anywhere else. What about you?
Heaven Forbid – you become ill
Then I got to thinking, what if I got in another motorcycle accident, but worse, to where I couldn’t work. Do I have a backup plan for that, not yet, but made me think about it not only for my clients and my obligations but also about income. Luckily, the majority (I think all) I have built a great relationship with so they might understand a slight delay in certain work, but for long term, I’d have to consider alternatives.
One good thing that I was able to ascertain was if I lost power for a few days and not able to get out to another power source, or unexpectedly wasn’t able to work, my services would be covered. When I post for social, I always am posting a week ahead and when working in SEO and PPC services, it is something that is done a few times a month, or on a weekly basis, so I would be covered.
Bottom line…
Do you have a plan B for your business in the case of illness or Mother Nature? Click To TweetAs entrepreneurs, where we are likely the only person working our business, it is helpful to have a plan B. As in other blogs, your time is precious, so be sure you are spending your time where you make your most money. In these situations, you would be able to rely on others to get parts of your work done and would just have to worry about what service you provide.
So, next time you work on your business plan, be sure you are considering:
- your plan B
- other sources for outsourcing or backups for those folks
- alternative places to do your work
- backups of your office/client files and other data, offsite yet accessible in a pinch
- financial plan, like long or short term disability in the event of illness
- work ahead and not behind
Every industry is a little different so what things have you had to consider or now consider for your plan B? Contact me with any questions and if you’d like to consider A Visual Business as one of your back up outsourcing needs for social, website, search engine optimization, paid advertising or other marketing needs.
~Kristen
My life is a back up plan! We need always to be on alert for the possibilities of those crazy left turns.
I know the feeling Sharon.. I feel like I’m in plan C – Z so many times! LOL
This is so, so very important. Despite all the times I have learned the hard way the importance of having a plan, I found myself again just recently, in a situation where I needed my Plan B. Great advice here and well worth the time it takes to put a plan in action because you won’t need it until you need, if course. And when you do, you’ll be sorry if you don’t have it!
Sorry you had to deal with that Lisa and agreed, it is not because you want to deal with it, but cuz you have to.
Having always been a person with a forward thinking way of being, I have many backup plans or at least contingency plans. Mother Nature is one that none of us can be totally prepared for though. When we had the ice storm in December of 2013, even the best backup plan wasn’t quite good enough. Without power or heat, I was lucky, and was only out of commission for 24 hours. It took weeks for many people to be back in the flow of their lives. With the changing nature of our world, I do believe we need to rethink and re-look at the patterns we have settled into with some complacency, thinking “that can’t happen to me”. For our businesses, it is challenging when it requires us to be online so much. My computer is backed up to an external drive, however, I could afford to take the down moments and understand that some things are greater than us. Thanks Kristen, for the reminder to stay alert, to have contingency plans and to also think outside the box, when forming those plan B’s.
Great that you are so prepared Bev… and so true, Mother Nature is so hard to figure out… and you are so right… ‘it can’t/won’t happen to me’ is such wishful thinking.. it can and it might so best to be prepared.
Your bring up some valid points. I am just starting up and have very little outsourcing at the moment but my clients purchase and then move on. So will think how this kind of thing could disrupt my business!! Thank you.
Great, thanks Varina and while your clients may not stick around, you still need to have a record of your inventory, purchases and etc, so that might be something to back up or how to do your work from another location. Thanks!
My wifi went down this morning which was really inconvenient because of the way the day was planned. At first I was really annoyed but somehow the day went on, I got a lot of different things done and the world is still running. I try to be flexible. I think I am.
When power or wifi goes down.. it is always unexpected and annoying, for sure! But glad that you made the best of it!
I am in plan B NOW. I have to do all my computer stuff today ,yesterday& for next week on my iPhone. Desktop went into AppleCare. I never figured out how to do some of the things from my phone & it has been very challenging . Not all will get done for a few reasons but will fix things when I can. I think I need plan C & D
I know Roz and that’s just crazy.. sorry you are having to deal with that. Hopefully you’ll get back your “life” here very soon!
I don’t think you really had a true Plan B
Oh, man, I live in the world of Plan B. My backup plans have backup plans, just in case my lesson or life–as in this weekend’s fiasco with American Airlines, or this week with Hurricane Bill–unravels to the point where I’m on Plan M, N or X. Great advice, Kristen! Keep it frosted, lol.
Girl.. I so feel you! Bill ended up being a Hurricane where you are? Was just a Tropical Storm that wasn’t as bad down here, thankfully. May the frosting be with you.
Eek. Ordering another battery backup and creating a back up plan. Great info.
LOL Gin… great idea – battery backup and a full fledged back up plan, well done!
Always important to have a Plan B for everything in life. You just never know. It’s unrealistic to think nothing will ever go wrong or happen but that’s in the ideal world. Having that Plan B and even C will make things run so much smoother than being hit with something and sitting there clueless.
Yes, so very true Mike.. got to have back ups for everything in life.
Lots of food for thought here Kristin!! I do back up my files and have a Dropbox, but you’ve made me realize I need to think about this a bit more.
So glad that I am getting you thinking Lisa! Way to go girl!
Living on so-called “Hurricane Alley” in the Florida Keys, we are well aware of the weather-related disasters that can strike. It’s always a good idea to have a back-up plan — as well as back-up power, if you can swing it — to keep functioning. I learned years ago about the value of an uninterrupted power supply and it saved my bacon earlier this week when a fuse blew out in a transformer down the street. My UPS could have gone for a long time, but all I needed it for was to save my work and safely shut down my computer.
That’s awesome Jackie! Way to back yourself up!
I’m always thinking “what if” and while it drives my husband crazy, I do think it is important to play out in your mind and on paper worst case scenarios.
Agreed.. we can’t be naive and think.. .it can’t happen to us. While we don’t WANT it to.. we just need to plan ahead and protect ourselves.
Hm, you know – I don’t really have a backup plan 🙁
Luckily, the majority of my business is operated via smartphone – only recently have I added the blog which I use the PC to update. I don’t know what I would do if something happened…
Hmmm, well, get on it girl! Do you have to record stuff for taxes? Business stuff?
I think it’s important to have backup plans so you know you’re covered but also not to dwell into the negative so much. I know people that have so many backups plans that they never do anything they want to do because they’re planning too much for the worst. So there’s a thin line we need to be aware of to enjoy every moment but be prepared if things go wrong 🙂
Such a great point Delia! We need to be able to live our life, but also not dwell in the crap that happens to us.
Dear Plan B, I know her well. I usually have one, and hope to never need it. I’m good with my backups, so could start over, but I think I will assess everything again now. 🙂
Dear Jo-anne, Plan B misses you! lol Glad to know you usually have one.. but always good to take a review!
In business, it always expected that the mother’s nature in any contingency strikes. When this moment strikes, it is important for an alternative plan to save the business.
True, thanks Lorii
Hi, Having a back up plan really works for me. This is very timely and helpful. Thanks for sharing. Great Read!
Thanks Lynne, so glad that you have a back up plan!
As a “solopreneur”, I guess I really need to think about a plan B. What would happen? I guess I can’t put it off anymore.
OH yes Stacey, you really should!
I don’t own a business or I never have. But I can imagine how devastating it can be when mother nature hits it. I have friends who have experienced such disasters and it’s good to know they have insurance to cover it, but there are people who don’t and that really terrible.
If you don’t have a business, then why blog or promote others? You want to be seen for a reason, right Elizabeth and if you are getting paid, it is likely a business.