Disaster Proof Your Business

Copyright 2005 SharewarePromotions Ltd

Who cares about which side of the toast hits the floor first? If it's your toast, and your floor, then the answer is probably you. But fate may have a lot more than a dirty breakfast in store for you, especially when it comes to your business.

The disturbing fact is that those of us who run our own small businesses are more at risk than our corporate comrades. They can enjoy the luxury of choosing whether to put all their eggs in one basket, but most of us only have the one egg, and there's no shortage of ways to break it.

Chances are that your business is reliant on one single person in one single office. So taking precautions shouldn't just be a habit, it should be a way of life.

What If Something Happened To You?

Let's look at the first link in the chain. You. If your business relies almost completely on your name, knowledge and capabilities, have you considered what might happen if something were to happen to you? If you catch a cold, you'll probably be able to keep things ticking over. But what if you need to go away unexpectedly for a few days? Or need some kind of longer break? Is your system setup in a way that your partner can keep things ticking over? Or is most of it in your head? If you have a lot of time-based commitments, and rely on your business as your main source of income, then it might be worthwhile showing someone how things work now, before it becomes vital to do so. Try to imagine explaining to someone on the phone how to create a mail-merge from your database and word processor. Nasty.

As with most things in life, an hour or two of preparation could be a sound move, and time well spent. Showing your assistant or spouse how your email client works, where you store your client list, and how to process an order might take you an hour. But this could well save you a great deal of time, stress and money at some point in the future. Think ahead, and plan for the worst. Caution is not paranoia.

Your Equipment Is Vulnerable

The next link in the chain is your equipment. 99% of the work that I do is carried out on a computer. To describe a PC as vulnerable is something of an understatement. Viruses, power-surges, hardware breakdowns, lightning, idiocy, coffee, bad-software, dog-fur, theft