We’ve been informed
that our electricity
will be shut down
from 8 am to 8 pm
a couple days this month.
I run my Romance Writing Business
from home.
I can’t go multiple days
with no electricity
during prime promotion/selling hours.
So I’m going to
an unimpacted library
to run my business.
Things happen.
Power goes out.
Flooding occurs.
Wildcat strikes
surprise us.
We all need
to be able to
run our businesses
from alternate locations.
Have one in mind
and ready.
I can’t believe
this has to be said
but…
here we are.
You need to have hard copies
i.e. print copies,
preferably laminated,
of your emergency procedures.
The odds are huge
that,
during an emergency,
you won’t have power
and
you definitely won’t have
internet access.
Those emergency procedures
saved to the cloud
or your hard drive
won’t help you then.
You need to have access
to emergency procedures
when the power is out.
Print emergency procedures
and preferably laminate
or waterproof them in some way.
Kill a tree
to save your people.
This could save lives.
I’ve discussed many
of the other external threats
currently facing humankind
and our budding businesses.
Why haven’t I
discussed the possibility
of World War III
and its impact
on our businesses?
That’s because
there isn’t much more
we can do to prepare
for a world war
than what we’re already doing
to deal
with the pandemics
and climate change.
We build our businesses
to operate
without a lot of employees.
We consider storing
extra supplies.
We build systems
so our customers
can order directly from us
and, if at all possible,
they can order from their homes.
We might also consider
how we would react
if our businesses were forced
to temporarily shut down.
And we hope
World War III doesn’t happen.
Yes, the rich
tend to get richer
during times of war.
But small businesses
are usually decimated.
A loved one
recently bought
a used pair of crutches.
He loves sports
and he plays them all out.
He has hurt himself
numerous times
in the past.
He figures
it is merely a matter of time
before he hurts himself
again.
THIS time, he’ll be
better prepared.
Bad times
will come.
That is merely part
of doing business.
Do what you can do
to prepare for them.
In my neighborhood,
there is one neighbor
we go to
if we need a
not-commonly-required tool.
He usually has it
in his massive garage.
He hasn’t purchased
all those tools
himself.
We all contributed
some tools to his collection.
He merely stores them
and lends them
to other neighbors.
Because it makes no d@mn sense
for us all to buy tools
we might use once a decade.
There are small businesses
situated
all around yours.
One of them
likely has that book binding machine
or 3D printer
or other rarely used machine/tool
you need.
Ask before you buy that machine/tool.
The worst case is…
you get to know
your neighborhood businesses
a little bit better.
That might help you
in an emergency.
And they might just have
the machine/tool you need.
A friend was working
in the office
during Canada’s communications outage.
Communications in that office,
phone, internet, etc.,
were inaccessible.
Her manager refused
to give them the day off,
telling them to do
what they could manually.
What did they do?
They spent the entire day
talking about the communications outage.
No one was working.
On days like that,
emergency days,
disaster days,
if you can,
if tasks don’t have to be done
that day,
give your employees
the day off.
They are unlikely to be working anyway
and it creates goodwill.
Recently, a major communications company
in Canada
had a service outage
for an entire day.
EVERYTHING they offered
– mobile/cell phone, internet,
point of sales services,
landline, TV
was inaccessable.
It was chaos.
A significant portion
of the population
and of businesses
had ALL their communications services
with this company.
They couldn’t attend virtual meetings,
sell products to customers,
transfer money,
pay for products/services,
dial 9-1-1.
The people who had some or all
communications services
with the other major company
could still semi-function.
Communications companies
often offer savings
if we bundle our services
with them,
if we,
for example,
give them all our mobile/cell,
landline, internet, TV business.
The issue with this is…
communications companies
sometimes have service outages.
They have emergencies.
They, for a short while,
can be unusable.
Consider splitting
your communications services.
And ensure you have an action plan
if one of those companies
has a service outage.