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How To Keep Your Business Going In The Face Of Disaster.

 

There are all manner of disasters that can devastate even the best operated business.

 

There are natural disasters like hurricanes, lightning strikes, and snowstorms that can damage or destroy your headquarters, or even disrupt your electrical power and Internet connections for days on end.

 

There are floods and fires that can ruin all your files and stock, and leave you to rebuild in a new location.

 

You can be the victim of employee theft, or sustain a serious disease that leaves you unable to keep on top of all the work.

 

Or the problem could be less spectacular. You could simply have over-extended yourself and your resources or miscalculated on what you thought was possible. As the days pass, you see your dream fade and disaster cripple your company if you had invested all you had in a new venture.

 

How can you face disaster and survive it?

 

Moving forward resolutely as if nothing bad has happened may appear admirable at the time, but it really won’t help you recover in the long run.

 

I speak from experience because like so many entrepreneurs, I have tasted sweet success but I have also had my time to walk out of the wake of disaster.

 

The most important thing is to be realistic in accepting that you have had a disaster and you have to stop if only for a few hours and consider the ramifications of it. You must take this thinking time for it is only with it that you can start the rebuilding process.

Logically access the problem. One trick I learned is that if you are too overwrought to think without emotion about your own problem, imagine that you are a client and think what you would advise another entrepreneur if it happened to them.

 

Acknowledge that while you have the courage to do the proverbial jump up and get right back on the horse, what you really need is to take a short break and let things fall into perspective. You have to allow yourself a window of time to absorb the shock and sort through your emotions.

 

If you don’t deal with your grief or shock, your emotions will keep demanding your attention and you won’t be able to see clearly into how you can rebuild, recover or resume your business.

 

Try to turn the disaster into something positive that you can learn from. If you establish a new process or have to do things that you have never done before, keep good notes so you can review your actions later and assess what worked and what didn’t.

 

The hardest thing is figuring out what to do next. Ask yourself hard questions about what really happened and what is the biggest problematic outcome you are facing? How can that one aspect of the disaster be solved?

 

Have others experienced this same kind of disaster? How did they handle it? Who are the survivors who did it right? Are any of these people around that you could consult with?

 

Figure out what kind of help you will need to get your business back on track. Do you need a new location, restored Internet, an influx of money, or human resources help? Do you need repair work done or experts in clean-up?

 

Next to pretending a disaster didn’t happen and trying to go on without acknowledging it, the biggest mistake is thinking you can get through it without anyone’s help.

 

Secure the help you need and turn your new team back into restoring order and the business of the day. The faster you can accomplish this, the less damage your business will sustain in the long-term.

 

Paula Morand is a leadership building, revenue boosting, strategy expanding keynote speaker, author and visionary. This dreaming big and being bold leadership expert and brand strategist brings her vibrant energy, humor and wisdom to ignite individuals, organizations and communities to lead change, growth and impact in a more bold fashion. 24 years, 27,000 clients, 34 countries, 15 books, former radio personality, 11x award winning entrepreneur and humorous emcee.Check out Paula’s best selling books: “Bold Courage: How Owning Your Awesome Changes Everything”, “Dreaming BIG and Being BOLD: Inspiring stories from Trailblazers, Visionaries and Change Makers” book series; and due to be released December 6^th “Bold Vision: A Leader’s Playbook for Managing Growth” go to Amazon http://ow.ly/i8yW307ix67

Speaking inquiries email bookings@paulamorand.com or call toll-free 1-888-502-6317.