In Case of Emergency…

Do you currently have an emergency backup plan set up for your business?

What would you do if catastrophe struck your area?

Things to do to prepare:

Make sure you have backups – Make backups of all your computer and client files. Back up your computer to an external hard drive or to an offsite/remote backup server. Paper files should be backed up as well if you live in flood areas where your files could potentially be damaged.

Update your voicemail/email vacation responses – Let people know if they might not be able to contact you for a while and you’ll respond when you are able to do so. That way they’ll know you’re not simply ignoring them.

Update your scheduling calendars – If you use any online scheduling tools, make sure you adjust for the dates you won’t be available. It is disappointing to have someone schedule a call with you when you won’t be able to connect with them.

Have someone else available to take over – If you/your business is going to be closed/unavailable for an extended period of time, would you be able to hire someone to help you out during that time so your clients will be well cared for? If so, make sure you plan ahead and hire some one before you’ll need them to handle things.

Create a operations handbook – If someone else is going to need to take over your business for a period of time, it is helpful to have a checklist or operations manual so they know what needs to be done and things can be handled the same as if you were doing it yourself. (This comes in handy if you are training someone new to help you in your business too!)

So some of these things take some time to get set up ahead of time, but others only take a few minutes to set up and it is very considerate to your customers/clients.

Your “To Do” item for the week Go through the list and if there are items that you don’t have in place yet, like backups and the operation handbook, set up time in your schedule to start mapping that out or purchasing a backup drive to backup your computer.

Share in the comments below: Have you had emergencies in your business that you were unprepared for? How did that effect your business? Are there other things you should prepare for in case of emergency, please share them! Share your thoughts. 🙂