Hurricane-level winds.
That is what they are telling us here in the Pacific Northwest. As I write this, a storm is brewing and we are told to prepare for hurricane-level winds. So I got ready. I bought extra food and water. I put fresh batteries in my flashlights and smoke detectors (my power almost always goes out in high winds). I made sure I had candles. And wine. Because, you know, strong winds.
Now what if the forecasts turn out wrong? What if the winds never materialize? Are my preparations wasted?
No way. It doesn’t hurt to have more food and water (and wine). It doesn’t hurt to have new batteries. In short, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
So why not prepare for strong winds in your business?
Here’s how I think about it: it’s better to have a contingency plan and not need it than to need a contingency plan and not have it.
If you don’t already have a contingency plan (or, more accurately, plans) for the “strong winds” in your business, I suggest you get your team together and spend a day working on this.
Developing contingency plans is basically a two-step process:
- Find out what could go wrong.
- Find out what you are going to do about it.
The first step can be a bit scary (that is, you’re basically plotting apocalyptic scenarios), but it can also be fun. Just make a list of everything you can think of that would negatively affect your business. This part of the process will probably only take about 15% of your total time.
Now for step 1b. [You: “1b? So there are actually THREE steps? Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?” Me: “I didn’t want to frighten you.”] Step 1b is to put your list in order of probability. So “the marketing campaign fails to increase market share” would probably go above “Meteor hits Earth and kills all life on the planet.” Probably. And please don’t get into a half-hour discussion about whether a certain item should be the number 7 or 8; what really matters is the big picture.
And now is the time for the heavy lifting. Take the top five items on your list and come up with a plan for each one. Maybe the top seven, if you’re feeling ambitious. You don’t need to make a plan for the meteor scenario.
Any good high school football coach has contingency plans for every game. You know what you will do if your first quarterback is injured or if the opposing team uses a different defensive strategy than it has used in the past. You have figured it out beforehand. And you should too.
Because, after all, isn’t your business as important as a high school football game?
