their own’.
DEFINING IDEA …
I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.
~ JOHN D. ROCKEFELER
Nobody wants to dwell on the possible downsides of commerce because if we focused on everything that could go wrong we’d probably never get out of bed in the morning, never mind get into business. Totally ignoring the potential pitfalls, however, is nearly as bad as cockiness and overconfidence. According to UK bank Lloyds TSB, nearly half of all small businesses fail within their first three years, and while one in five businesses suffers some kind of major disruption in a year a crushing 80% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) fail to recover if it happens to them and close down within the next eighteen months.
The vast majority of smaller enterprises have no emergency plan to cope with major troubles such as flooding, fire, vandalism or terrorism and yet it is precisely the SMEs that have the least resources in reserve to keep them afloat if they are forced to stop trading for any period of time. Be absolutely honest; have you drawn up your worst-case scenario? And if you have, do you have a plan for dealing with it other than curling into a small ball and hiding under your desk?
If you came up short on the above question then it’s time to follow Franklin and look around at ‘others’ harms’. Trade publications are a pretty good starting point since there isn’t an industry newspaper in print that doesn’t lead with the cock-ups of your peers. Missing deadlines, penalty clauses, power cuts, industrial accidents, mass layoffs—they are the stock in trade of your industry press and while it certainly isn’t cheerful reading, it is a mine of information on the things that can go wrong. Instead of the schadenfreude of watching your opposition struggle in terrible circumstances, consider carefully how badly your own enterprise would be hit if it faced a similar or worse scenario.
Think carefully about the following:
• Are you insured for damage to your stock, your premises and your possessions if disaster strikes?
• Are you protected in the event of loss of earnings so that your bills will continue to be paid even if you or your business have to cease or restrict trading?
• Do you have a fallback plan and an emergency fund to keep the business ticking over until you can get back to full speed?
Insurance is a great thing, but don’t get too smug just because you’re insured. The real mark of preparation is not being compensated for the disaster a year after your company closes; it’s keeping your company’s head above the flood waters until everything is back to normal.
HERE’S AN IDEA FOR YOU …
Don’t forget your data. Would you survive without order books, customer contact details and intellectual property? No, so don’t just back them up locally to tape or CD—a hosting company can provide you with a mirror copy of all crucial data hosted on a remote server away from your premises.
44 MAKE FRIENDS WITH A MENTOR
Franklin thought the principle of learning from other people’s mistakes was such a good idea he opted to say it all over again—in Latin. ‘Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum’ , he intoned which, if your Latin is a little rusty, roughly translates as ‘happy is he who learns caution from the perils of other people’.
Worst-case scenarios are helpful but there’s a less painful way of learning from others than drawing them up. Franklin’s point that ‘wise men learn by others’ harms’ is the thinking behind the whole process of mentoring which is rapidly gaining popularity as an alternative to traditional consultancy.
DEFINING IDEA …
Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.
~ ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
If you’re running an SME then a business mentor provides a number of roles. They are a sounding board for your ideas and a trusted third party ready with unbiased opinions about the
DEFINING IDEA …
I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.
~ JOHN D. ROCKEFELER
Nobody wants to dwell on the possible downsides of commerce because if we focused on everything that could go wrong we’d probably never get out of bed in the morning, never mind get into business. Totally ignoring the potential pitfalls, however, is nearly as bad as cockiness and overconfidence. According to UK bank Lloyds TSB, nearly half of all small businesses fail within their first three years, and while one in five businesses suffers some kind of major disruption in a year a crushing 80% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) fail to recover if it happens to them and close down within the next eighteen months.
The vast majority of smaller enterprises have no emergency plan to cope with major troubles such as flooding, fire, vandalism or terrorism and yet it is precisely the SMEs that have the least resources in reserve to keep them afloat if they are forced to stop trading for any period of time. Be absolutely honest; have you drawn up your worst-case scenario? And if you have, do you have a plan for dealing with it other than curling into a small ball and hiding under your desk?
If you came up short on the above question then it’s time to follow Franklin and look around at ‘others’ harms’. Trade publications are a pretty good starting point since there isn’t an industry newspaper in print that doesn’t lead with the cock-ups of your peers. Missing deadlines, penalty clauses, power cuts, industrial accidents, mass layoffs—they are the stock in trade of your industry press and while it certainly isn’t cheerful reading, it is a mine of information on the things that can go wrong. Instead of the schadenfreude of watching your opposition struggle in terrible circumstances, consider carefully how badly your own enterprise would be hit if it faced a similar or worse scenario.
Think carefully about the following:
• Are you insured for damage to your stock, your premises and your possessions if disaster strikes?
• Are you protected in the event of loss of earnings so that your bills will continue to be paid even if you or your business have to cease or restrict trading?
• Do you have a fallback plan and an emergency fund to keep the business ticking over until you can get back to full speed?
Insurance is a great thing, but don’t get too smug just because you’re insured. The real mark of preparation is not being compensated for the disaster a year after your company closes; it’s keeping your company’s head above the flood waters until everything is back to normal.
HERE’S AN IDEA FOR YOU …
Don’t forget your data. Would you survive without order books, customer contact details and intellectual property? No, so don’t just back them up locally to tape or CD—a hosting company can provide you with a mirror copy of all crucial data hosted on a remote server away from your premises.
44 MAKE FRIENDS WITH A MENTOR
Franklin thought the principle of learning from other people’s mistakes was such a good idea he opted to say it all over again—in Latin. ‘Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum’ , he intoned which, if your Latin is a little rusty, roughly translates as ‘happy is he who learns caution from the perils of other people’.
Worst-case scenarios are helpful but there’s a less painful way of learning from others than drawing them up. Franklin’s point that ‘wise men learn by others’ harms’ is the thinking behind the whole process of mentoring which is rapidly gaining popularity as an alternative to traditional consultancy.
DEFINING IDEA …
Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.
~ ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
If you’re running an SME then a business mentor provides a number of roles. They are a sounding board for your ideas and a trusted third party ready with unbiased opinions about the
Similar Books
