Sunday, April 22, 2007

LNB #038: When the $%#! Hits the Fan (Disaster Preparedness)

Do you have a disaster plan? Given that we in the Northern Hemisphere are just entering hurricane and tornado season, we would do well to know what to do. Write a brief (you know how much I love working from one page) plan, including medical other disasters, give it to a trusted party and then practice.

However, there are those disasters that are entirely personal, like a very sick parent, partner or child. Do you know how to keep your business running or will your business run out of gas?

Some tips for your consideration:

  • Use an office service. I love Intelligent Office. Give them a ring.
  • Forward your land line to your cellphone (Note: You don't need to have a subscription to the Call Forwarding service to use this. You can use it and pay a single use fee. Check with your carrier).
  • Back up your calendar to your website (I'll post how to do with with some screenshots in a bit)
  • Create an away message (see your ISP or Outlook manual to learn how to do this)
  • Back up your contacts to the web. I use Cardscan, so I can synchronize my contacts to both Outlook and the web.
  • Put your accounting system on the web (I used Quickbooks Pro, which allows me to create an online account).
  • Consider take-it-with-you Internet service. This I didn't do. Instead I learned where the free wireless hotspots were in town and signed on there when I wasn't at the hospital.

  • Don't wait, hoping that everything will be a box of kittens the rest of your business days. This is something to get on top of.

    Cheers!


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