Help, Tips & Information for those in Small Business

In a previous post I wrote on lessons learnt on protecting your passwords  from hackers on the virtual world. But what about in the real world. How

Has your business a Disaster Recovery Plan

confident are you if your business  was interrupted by natural or unnatural disasters, are you prepared?  Think about business continuity and disaster planning, yes it does sound like a bunch of dirty words, but  it is something that deserves your attention. Marvin LeBlanc’s business was caught up in Hurricane Katrina and he has been sharing lessons learnt from that time, read on.

 Business Continuity and Disaster Planning

“Sixty-eight percent of my income was lost in the first 100 days,” he recalls. “The insurance department in the state of Louisiana mandated all insurance companies to not send out premium notices. Premiums were waived. If you’re a full-commission salesperson and no one is paying their bill, you’re not getting income.”

LeBlanc had to figure out how to serve his customers with limited information — his clients had scattered all over the country — and zero employees.

He learned the hard way how to be prepared for a disaster: Backing up records, keeping bottled water and nonperishable food in the office and keeping a working generator on site is critical, for instance.

LeBlanc got asked to speak about his experience — first at local groups, conferences and nonprofits, but the speaking events always led to another larger event, and he now speaks all over the country.

“Back then I didn’t have a fee, I was just telling my story,” he says.

Friends and acquaintances were also encouraging him to write a book, a process he says was so emotional that he didn’t start until two years later. (His book Come Hell or High Water (Life Lessons from Hurricane Katrina) was published late last year.)

LeBlanc learned so many lessons from Katrina that it’s hard to count. Besides realizing he could create an entire second stream of income for himself through speaking engagements and writing, LeBlanc says that he is better prepared as a business owner for a disaster and able to connect with his clients.read the full post here

How do you think your company is set up if disaster struck? Do you have a disaster recovery plan? Are your computer systems backed up and how would you (and your employees) cope without an income for 6 months.  And don’t become complacent, here in New Zealand after the 2nd Christchurch earthquake in February, 2011 over a year later many businesses have folded or having difficulty in maintaining profitable businesses. And though unreported lately in our news media I expect the people of Japan still reeling from their earthquake. Also consider, while your physical business may be unscathed what about your customers? How would a a sudden drop in demand effect your business? And don’t forget computer backups.