The 3rd Plan Missing from your Business

If you're like most people, you probably started with wonderful ideas of fulfilling your dreams, to be successful and to take charge of your own destiny.

I hope you have achieved those or are well on your way.

You wouldn't think of starting your business without a business plan and you shouldn't even consider marketing your product or services without a marketing plan. A solid business plan and marketing plan are your roadmaps to help you to know where your going, how to get there and to achieve your goals, whatever they may be.

Nobody likes to think about what would happen if those accomplishments were suddenly pulled out from under you, yet unfortunately it does happen.

As of this writing, we have seen this directly with the recent rash of hurricanes that have devastated the Caribbean, Cuba, Florida and our Gulf Coast. Thousands of lives have been temporarily or permanently disrupted.

Do you have a plan if this should happen to you? Can your home business survive in the event of an emergency? If not, then it's time to start thinking about adding a business continuity plan to your list of things to do.

What is a business continuity plan? Very simply, a business continuity plan is a complete set of well-planned and documented procedures that will help your business get back on track in the event of an emergency.

If your business is managed from your home, both your residence and your livelihood are at risk due to unexpected loss.

Natural disasters are not the only risk factors. As devastating as it is to think someone else was in your home, robberies can happen anywhere.

Something as basic as a hard drive crash can cripple your home business indefinitely. I recently spoke with two people in the last month that with this very distrupting experience.

When you think of how much time, money & effort you have invested in your home businesses, it only makes sense to make sure it is protected and can survive an emergency.

A solid business plan, a strategic marketing and a complete continuity plan are essential elements to your long-term success and peace of mind.

About The Author

© 2004 Patty Gale ? All rights reserved

Cornerstones Consulting, LLC

Patty Gale is a business continuity and disaster recovery specialist serving the home & small business community. She is co-author of the "Home Office Recovery Plan" and manages her company, Cornerstones Consulting, LLC from her home office near Milwaukee, WI.

Visit her site to receive your complimentary info-pak containing sample chapters from the book.

http://www.HomeOfficeRecoveryPlan.com

---

How To Rebuild Trust

Here are some quick thoughts on ways to turn things... Read More

Coaching Champions at Work

I saw Brian Kerr (the Irish national football coach) on... Read More

Deciding What to Delegate

DECIDING WHAT TO DELEGATE: Once the benefits of delegation are... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Idea Progression

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Supervisor-Employee Relations: Tips For Managers

Supervisor-employee relations are a critical part of a work place... Read More

Islam in the Workplace

Suggested practice for HR personnelMuslims now form one of the... Read More

Nonprofit Performance: Outcome Measurement Can Be A Good Thing

Does the idea of program evaluation make your stomach churn?... Read More

PR Still a Mystery to Some

Unfortunately, there are managers who define public relations by its... Read More

Inventory Management 101

Inventory management may seem complicated to some, but if one... Read More

Project Heroes

Project heroes. We've all heard of them. Some of us... Read More

Making a Decision to Outsource: Driving Factors

Most executives view offshore outsourcing most of all as a... Read More

People Literacy

Every Manager has experienced the frustration of not understanding why... Read More

The Seven Cs: Partnership Danger Signs - Conflict Becoming the Norm ? Part 1

A series of articles exploring the seven critical areas that... Read More

Proven Secrets to Keeping Your People and Increasing Your Profits

Why are people changing jobs so quickly these days?Here are... Read More

The Power of ?Ask?

For Call Center managers, it is not a pipe dream... Read More

Best Practices Plan: Dissemination of a Great Idea

Good news spreads quickly News of the invention of the... Read More

Turn Your Speech Into A Leadership Talk

My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for... Read More

What Makes a Crisis a Crisis?

If you're old enough and were living in America about... Read More

Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part One)

We know character when we see it, but what exactly... Read More

Holding Effective Meetings Can Be Easier than You Think!

I'm sure you've experienced those typical "headache" meetings! You know... Read More

How to Keep a Good Employee: Look, Listen, Learn

Recently a client told me a wonderful story about how... Read More

Improve Operations by Restructuring

Transitioning from Vertical Hierarchies to Decentralized / Flatter OrganizationsThe need... Read More

Employee Discipline: How to Nip Problems in the Bud

Are you uncomfortable with delivering disciplinary action, even involving employees... Read More

Innovation Management ? Rigorous data analysis

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Adapting Human Resource Functions

This article relates to the human resource functions competency, commonly... Read More

Leadership in Troubled Times

Leadership in Troubled Times The... Read More

Managing Rebellious Employees

Surveys of executives reveal that many companies fall short of... Read More

The Comfort Zone

The Comfort Zone I... Read More

Lead to Succeed: The Seven Essential Steps to Work Leader Success

In my book "You're In Charge?What Now?" I use a... Read More

Five Key Strategies for Making Your Nonprofit Business More Effective

I love tennis both as a spectator and... Read More

Develop Your People and Make More Money

What is the no. 1 asset in your business beside... Read More

Treat Employees Fairly, Car Wash Entrepreneur sets Industry Standards

I believe that whether corporations expense their stock options is... Read More

Managing Creativity

Creativity Starts Here!The ability of an organisation to create new... Read More