Minimize Disruptions and Emergencies! Keep Your Business Moving and Profitable

I’m writing this article 2 days after Hurricane Irene came through.  I have no power or phone service.  I charged my cell phone in the car.  I will be heading to the library shortly to charge my laptop and use their Internet access.

We were lucky when it came to Irene.  We knew the hurricane was coming and had time to plan and prepare.  We knew there was a good possibility that we would lose power and maybe even water.  We took preventive measures and charged our cell phones and laptops.  We made sure we had flashlights and batteries and knew where they were.  We filled bottles with water and put away anything outside that could possibly “take flight”.

The storm came and did a lot of damage here in NJ but my house was spared.  In the big scheme of things, losing power was just an inconvenience especially since we were prepared.

Fortunately hurricanes don’t happen very often (at least not in New Jersey) and when they do we have plenty of warning.  In our businesses we’re not always that lucky.  Emergencies tend to crop up all the time. 

Some emergencies are good news.  For instance, you are asked to fill in at the last minute on a radio show.  It’s very exciting but you have only a short time to pull everything together.  Or you bring on a new client and find yourself scrambling to get all of the material together so you can get started.

Other times, the emergency is bad news…your ezine is due out tomorrow and you still haven’t gotten the article written.  Or you find yourself up against a deadline on a project you are working on.

Running your business from emergency to emergency is exhausting.  But I have to ask you…if these types of things are happening again and again are they really emergencies or are they situations that, while they might not occur every day, you have had warning about and should have prepared yourself for?

Here are three areas you can look at to help you prepare so that you and your clients are covered and your business and life will run smoother.

1.     Think about your day-to-day schedule.  What types of “emergencies” often strike?  Sure the specific situation might be unexpected, but I bet there are a lot of similarities between these events.  Pay specific attention to when you find yourself saying “UGH! Why does this keep happening?”  What can you do to prepare?  What tools can you put at your disposal so that your business keeps going?

2.     Look at the things you do often.  What can you automate or create a system for so that these situations become barely a ripple. Create a “welcome package” for new clients so that sending them information is easy.  Create a package of material on the various presentation topics you do so that you can quickly give it to anyone who needs it.

3.     What type of true emergency systems can you put in place?  If you were called away from your business suddenly do you have support that can cover for you and help you reschedule appointments? Can you automate various communications with prospects and clients?   What if you lost power or your computer’s hard drive (I’ve lost 3) or lost your cell phone?   Is your computer backed up and do you back it up regularly?  Do you charge your phone regularly?  Would you have your important phone numbers available?

The bottom line is that there will certainly be true emergencies that force you to stop everything you are doing and focus your attention elsewhere, and you’ll never be able to avoid them all.  The key is to do as much as you can to minimize the interruption that they cause.

What can you do to minimize the impact of emergencies in your business?  Please share with me.