#HurricaneHarvey Disaster Aftermath, Houston Texas August 2017
How To Survive A Disaster…
& Keep Your Home Business Running
You’d have to be living in a cave or under a rock not to know that the summer of 2017 has been challenging for many in the US.
This is going to affect multiple millions of people, not just in the US but globally, and it will for a long time to come.
This is also the anniversary of 9-11… I don’t know anyone who hasn’t got a memory connected with that tragedy.
So all in all, a good time to talk about how to keep your business up and running when you have to evacuate or are faced with disaster.
We’ve touched on how to start an online business, and whether you can make money doing it. But today I want to talk about how you can survive, what you can do to keep your business running in the face of disaster- what you need to think about ahead of time, and when you are affected by disaster.
After all, if there is no computer, there is no way for your business to operate when the power and internet are restored. What can we do to prepare and survive to see another day with our families?
I’m a Texan-in-exile (as I put it)- I’m from Houston, my family has been in Texas for nearly 150 years, so our roots go back a ways.
My daughter is carrying on the family tradition in Houston, having completed her undergrad university, grad school, residencies, and post-doc fellowships around the country, she is now back in Houston as a geriatric neuropsychologist, working with Alzheimer patients. So we talk about a lot of “What if…” questions. How to prepare for disasters, especially if you have older loved ones to care for as well.
#HurricaneHarvey and #HurricaneIrma have tested our “what if” scenarios, and allowed me to refine some lessons I’ve lived to tell about into this checklist that will help you survive disaster in general and keep your business going.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with my background, I’m here in Washington, DC right now and have worked with Homeland Security, FEMA, and the Defense department prior to setting up my own business, Strategy Links, almost 9 years ago. IN 2008 I started a blog about my work overseas when the former Soviet Union collapsed – I was there from 1996-2005 (WhatTheWorldTaughtMe.com). More recently I built a network marketing team with affiliate system that just last month went belly up. So, yeah, #^%$t happens!
I’ve known my share of disaster. And I know how it can touch each of us in some way.
My goal is to help you prepare, even if you’re not convinced you need help… yet!
True story from last week:
My aunt & uncle flew from California INTO Florida last week to visit friends- friends who said, “Oh, these storms never hit the Gulf side of Florida…” – the friends who live just south of Tampa! “Hasn’t happened since 1921…” they said. But it happened yesterday in 2017. Ok then…
What Do You Need To Know? Why Is This Important?
You’ve been working hard to get your business set up and to get it running. You depend on regular content to get the traffic that will be your fans and purchase your products or sign up for your system, plan or program, right?
When the time comes to board up windows or shelter in a hotel or school, how do you keep your content posting and getting viewers who may be unaffected in Michigan, or sleepless in Seattle? 😉
I went back through all my experiences with earthquakes and fires in California, political unrest in Baku, the derecho in DC, “Snowmaggedon/Snowzilla” plus my time with FEMA and more to make this checklist of important steps to take before, during, and after a disaster to make your life a little easier- or at least to avoid adding one more headache on top of all those about to happen!
Now, keep in mind, this checklist is not exhaustive, nor should it replace local authorities directions for you and your family. First things first. Let’s just get that out of the way.
But, assuming someday you need to evacuate, make plans to shelter elsewhere, or some other action that will take you out of your normal home business in a hurry or under stress, I want you to have this plan set up before that day comes. Like I say, I’ve been there in floods, fires, earthquakes, and political unrest overseas. You do need to plan ahead for these events because sometimes you’re given very little warning – like this time... (https://whattheworldtaughtme.com/2013/09/09/ex-pat-living-how-do-you-survive-life-in-a-war-zone/)
With all the situations just this past 30 days, you can see why it is important to your family that you think about how to continue your source of income coming in while disaster swirls around you. This may sound callous, but if you went into a home business for any reason other than to have fun and meet people, protecting your income could quite literally be a lifesaver.
So here is what I would advise… I’ve laid this out in 3 columns: Pre-, During-, and Post-Disaster Preparations in a Checklist with a column to check of when the action is done.
Download the whole Checklist here (.pdf)
And, as always, please ask your questions in the comment section at the end and share this with your friends and family. Also, if you’ve just gone through a disaster and have a tip that worked for you, or have learned a lesson for next time, please share your hard-earned wisdom here! We can all learn something for the future… Glad you’re here!
I hope this gets you thinking about what to plan for ahead of the next event. You know what they say these days: “Disasters are like buses- there’ll be another one along in a few minutes!”
Be safe, and be prepared! Your family and your business need you!
