The other day I got the letter through the door that most business owners dread… jury service.
It could potentially take me out of my business for two weeks. It’s nowhere near as bad as it could be; at least I know when it's happening.
And, it might not be two whole weeks and even if it is, I can work in the mornings and the evenings. But it did get me thinking…
Life Happens
Life has a way of throwing up unexpected events all of a sudden.
It made me think, what if I didn’t have the luxury of working mornings and evenings. What if I didn’t have a team to help me? What would happen if I couldn't work in my business for the next two weeks?
The big question
Here’s the question we should all ask ourselves:
What would happen if I had to drop my business for two weeks?
There's a big difference between putting things on hold, putting your project on hold and everything coming to a halt.
It may all seem a bit dramatic, but it’s definitely worth putting a bit of time aside to think about what would happen.
Would the money still come in?
Would you be able to take money out to pay your personal bills and your business bills? If not, maybe income protection might be something to consider.
Would the work get done?
Do you have a team, are they able to do the work they need to without you on hand? Can they access everything they need to?
Consider a reciprocal arrangement
Maybe there's another business you could strike up a reciprocal arrangement with.
This is something that’s quite common with certain types of busines, such as wedding photographers. If they're ill on the day of the wedding it means they have someone to call on.
Could you potentially come up with arrangement like this with another business?
Addressing the issue
While the question of how your business would continue without you for a period of time is a scary one, it's worth sitting down and thinking about it now before it becomes an issue. And hopefully it never will for you, but statistically, chances are it will happen at some point.
What can you do rectify the situation or mitigate any problems that might arise? Start putting things in place and you might sleep a little bit better.
