Business Contingencies for the Discerning Entrepreneur.
The past few weeks have been a nightmare for me. One thing that I’ve learned is that life happens, it waits for no man, and it has impeccable timing.
Rewind to 3 weeks ago when the boss lady goes on holiday to Hawaii and leaves Virtual Elves in my capable hands to manage whilst away. Cue personal drama, the world opens up beneath me and I’m swallowed whole.
Without going into particulars, suffice to say I was unable to work for the next two weeks, apart from the odd shuffling of emails.
This may or may not sound familiar to you. You’re working along happily, making plans, making lists, looking down a long road with no speed bumps when BOOM the shit hits the fan. I’m fairly certain insurance companies call it an ‘act of God’ – a totally unforseen occurrence that throws your carefully mapped out existence into utter turmoil. It could be a death in the family, an illness, an accident or freak sharknado. Whatever it is, it’s enough to create a perfect storm of confusion and commotion in your life.
So your personal circumstances are a pile of poop – but what about your business? Many small businesses these days are made of ‘solopreneurs’ who shoulder much of the workload themselves.
Ask yourself, when shit happens do the gears of your business grind to a halt? What kind of contingencies do you have in place as a safety net?
I was very fortunate to be able to call on the two Virtual Assistants from the Philippines that work exclusively for Virtual Elves. Honey and Cherry have become very familiar over the years with the way the business works. After a couple of emails and a few skype chats they were able to handle most of the incoming queries and daily tasks associated with running the company.
But not everyone is fortunate enough to have two guardian angels swooping in to lighten their business burdens. So what can you do to mitigate the chaos when accident and misadventure inevitably occur in life?
RULE #1 DON’T WAIT
Don’t wait until you’re thrown into the deep end to plan your contingencies. When you’re in a situation of high emotion or grief, it’s not the best time to be strategising on how to manage your business while you sort it all out. Start laying plans now so you’re not caught out.
RULE #2 PROCESS IS KEY
If you’re not already recording your business processes you should be. A very quick and effective way to do this is to screen record what you do in your business when you’re doing it. Two good programs that do this are Camtasia or Jing. Host the videos on the web and have a bible of lovely links ready at any time that anyone can watch and learn the basics of how you run things.
RULE #3 MAKE CLOUD YOUR FRIEND
Now I know we harp on about this, but it really is important. If you want your business to be agile and responsive (especially in a crisis) you need to make sure that every essential program you’re using is cloud based (including document storage) Why you ask? So you can share anything needful with anyone who needs it. Anywhere in the world.
RULE #4 YOU NEED BACK-UP
The discerning entrepreneur recognises that they can’t do everything on their own. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, so too does the concept apply to your business. With that being said, especially in times of personal upheaval, it’s a good idea to have a back-up resource, someone on hand, who can pick up the essentials and keep the business running while you’re offline.
Are you ready to get started planning contingencies for your business? If you’d like a one on one consultation with Kristy you can start the conversation online or visit our website for more information
www.virtualelves.com.au/contact-us/
