Life is full of surprises, not all of which are pleasant. And though your small business is an important part of life, any issue involving a family member or yourself must take precedence.
Despite the unexpected nature of personal emergencies, it is possible to be prepared for situations that require a brief or extended absence. In fact, many of the planning steps for natural disasters such as storms or fires also apply to personal emergencies. You can’t anticipate every scenario, of course, and some situations such as the death of a loved one or a serious illness may be understandably difficult to think about.
But imagine the difficulty of having to make quick decisions about your business when your personal world has been jolted by an unexpected event. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to give your full attention to the emergency, if you’re pre-occupied with your business.
Here are some tips for planning for personal emergencies:
Keep your schedule flexible. If you expect to be unavailable for only a short time, reschedule appointments or meetings, and request deadline extensions if needed. Don’t feel guilty about asking for some extra consideration. People experience all kinds of emergencies and issues themselves, and they will accommodate you as best they can.
Check your financial resources. This is particularly important for one-person businesses, and those that may have no choice but to suspend operations. Make sure there’s enough liquidity, either in savings or a designated emergency fund to cover bills and other costs. Your insurance should include disability coverage should an injury or illness sideline you for an extended period.
Delegate. If you have already assigned certain responsibilities to some employees, you’re ahead of the game. Think about who might best serve as a leader in your absence, and make sure that person has the necessary training, access to information, and other resources to lead on a moment’s notice. Also, share this designation with other managers and employees so that nobody is left to wonder who should do what in your absence.
Have back-up resources ready. For a one-person business, the same colleagues you count on to handle work overflows and networking can also help out in an emergency. Keep track of their respective strengths and specialties, in case you need to spread the workload around, or customers have restrictions/preferences regarding sub-contractors.
Communicate. Routinely keeping key staff members up-to-date on business activities will smooth the transition of responsibility should an emergency arise. They’ll also be better able to act on their own in case you can’t be reached.
What to tell customers. With your support network in place, you can more easily alert customers to your impending absence. A quick, general “Dear Customer” email may be all that’s needed, though you may feel that some merit a personal message or call. In either case, provide them with a contact person they can turn to, and assure them that their needs will be met until you return.
This Ask SCORE column is provided by the SCORE Central Oregon Chapter.
SCORE is a nonprofit association with 11,000 volunteers, business experts in 320 offices in communities across the country. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. To request a free small business mentoring session go to www.scorecentraloregon.org.
