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

In The News:

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A sign instructs job seekers at the California Employment Development Department in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. The country lost nearly 2 million jobs through November and more bad news is expected this week when the government releases data on weekly jobless claims and December unemployment. No matter how bad those numbers are, and economists expect at least another 500,000 jobs were lost last month, the pain is stretching into 2009.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.



Rep. Roger L. Eddy, right, votes to recommend the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the House during an Illinois House Impeachment Committee hearing Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, in Springfield, Ill. The committee voted unanimously to recommend impeachment putting the matter before the full house.  (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)AP - Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.



President-elect Barack Obama arrives to speak about the economy, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - Lawmakers are under orders to finish action on President-elect Barack Obama's nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan by mid-February. But already it is plain that a set of serious fissures need to be bridged if the bill is to be completed within five weeks.



Palestinians survey a kindergarten destroyed after an Israeli air strike in Gaza January 8, 2009. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)AP - Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza Friday and Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets, as Israel's government said it will press forward with its offensive despite a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.



In this Jan. 29, 2002 file photo, then Admiral Dennis Blair, center, commander-in-chief of the United States Pacific Command, reviews a guard of honor at the Singapore Ministry of Defense headquarters.     (AP Photo/Naashon Zalk)AP - President-elect Barack Obama is completing his national security team by announcing his unusual choices for CIA director and a national intelligence director who may face tough Senate confirmation questioning over how he confronted the Indonesian military when civilian massacres were occurring in East Timor.



Traders gather at the post that handles Wal-Mart on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 (AP Photo/Richard Drew)AP - Investors showed nervousness Friday ahead of the government's monthly employment report, sending stock futures moderately lower.



Pay Equity pioneer Lily Ledbetter addresses the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008 file photo. Democrats are ushering in what they believe will be a new labor-friendly era in Washington with House votes on two bills aimed at helping women fight pay discrimination in the workplace. The House was to vote on the bills Friday Jan. 9, 2009, and they could reach Barack Obama's desk soon after he enters the White House.  One of the bills, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, is a response to a 2007 Supreme Court decision that made it more difficult to sue over past pay discrimination.  (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, FILE)AP - Democrats are ushering in what they believe will be a new labor-friendly era in Washington with House votes on two bills aimed at helping women fight pay discrimination in the workplace.



An LG cell phone shows live TV during a demonstration at an OMVC news conference at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas,Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)AP - TV stations in 22 U.S. cities announced Thursday that they will start broadcasting their signals this year in a format designed to be received by mobile devices like cell phones, MP3 players, GPS units and in-car entertainment systems.



AP - A former actor on "The Sopranos" faces up to 15 years in prison for a botched burglary in the Bronx in which an accomplice shot and killed a police officer.

Florida's Tim Tebow (15) throws a pass over Oklahoma's Auston English (33) during the third quarter of the BCS Championship NCAA college football game in Miami, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)AP - Tim Tebow gave Florida the jolt it needed, and the Gators toughed out a second BCS title in three years. Their 24-14 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in a choppy, sloppy affair Thursday night made them a national champion.



Jaclyn Holt (R) fills out an application form at a job fair organized by the New Hampshire Employment Security agency in Salem, New Hampshire December 17, 2008. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)Reuters - Steep falls in European industrial output underlined the severity of the world economic crisis on Friday and more grim news was on the way with the United States expected to report the biggest monthly job cuts in more than 30 years.



An Israeli soldier stands atop a vehicle after crossing into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip January 7, 2009. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)Reuters - Israel pushed ahead with its two-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday, defying a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.



Reuters - A report being released on Friday alleges that the U.S. Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system, not answered questions asked by a government watchdog, and has done nothing to help struggling homeowners, the Wall Street Journal said.

President-elect Barack Obama (L) leaves the podium with Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, after announcing that he will become Treasury Secretary during a news conference in Chicago, November 24, 2008. (John Gress/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is working on an overhaul the $700 billion financial rescue program with the aim of doing more to spur the flow of credit to the struggling economy, an Obama aide said on Friday.



A pressure gauge is seen at a Ukrainian gas compressor station in the village of Boyarka near Kiev January 9, 2009 (Konstantin Chernichkin - UKRAINE/Reuters)Reuters - Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly said a deal to monitor gas exports via Ukraine would be signed on Friday, allowing for the resumption of supplies to Europe cut off by Moscow's price row with Kiev.



People taking the Long Island Foreclosure Tour arrive at a foreclosed home for sale in New Hyde Park, New York in this May 17, 2008 file photo. Citigroup could soon agree to principles that would let troubled borrowers save their homes through bankruptcy, sources familiar with the talks said on Thursday, while industry groups are easing their opposition to the plan. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.



Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich gestures as he announces former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris as his choice to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama during a news conference in Chicago, Illinois December 30, 2008. (Frank Polich/Reuters)Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.



A doctor checks the blood pressure of a patient at the J.W.C.H. safety-net clinic in the center of skid row in downtown Los Angeles July 30, 2007. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)Reuters - An analysis of proposals to overhaul U.S. health care by President-elect Barack Obama and members of Congress suggests it is possible to insure all Americans without significantly raising total health spending.



US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks to an unidentified aide during a Security Council meeting at the United Nations. Israel has battered Gaza with bombs and shells, vowing its offensive on Hamas would go on despite an order by the UN Security Council to stop the assault that has killed hundreds of civilians.(AFP/File/Timothy A. Clary)AFP - Israel battered Gaza with bombs and shells on Friday, vowing its offensive on Hamas would go on despite an order by the UN Security Council to stop the assault that has killed hundreds of civilians.



A man carries firewood in the suburbs of Sofia, Bulgaria. Russian gas deliveries to Europe could resume, the head of Russia's state gas firm said, raising hopes for an end to a transit dispute with Ukraine that has left several European states without gas at a moment of bitter cold.(AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff)AFP - Russian gas deliveries to Europe could resume later Friday, the head of Russia's state gas firm said, raising hopes for an end to a transit dispute with Ukraine that has left several European states without gas at a moment of bitter cold.




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