Plan B
In action movies, when the hero is thwarted by a situation, they employ Plan B to ultimately save the day. Business owners need to be able to do the same to maintain profitability and ensure sustainability of their company. Hurricane Dorian has shown some business owners the value of such a plan, and has shown others the need for one.
Unlike those in areas in the U.S. where Hurricane Dorian had significant impacts, and certainly for the Bahamas, most businesses in Florida were not affected by the storm. However, some were; those in areas that were evacuated as a precaution; those that performed work that involved the building, like installing skylights, solar pool heating, or involved alterations to the structure, and; those that performed work inside the building that was cancelled or rescheduled because the homeowners chose to leave the area to avoid the storm.
Businesses that did not have a “Plan B” as a component of their emergency operations plan (‘disaster plan’) or did not have a plan at all suffered a worse loss of profits than those with a Plan B. Business owners need to consider how their company could function during an extended period without one or more of the inputs needed to operate. These inputs include: access to the premises, functioning utilities, ability of vendors to deliver, customer willingness to use the product or service, employee’s ability to get to work, and more.
Lack of access to the premises could be due to mandatory evacuation of an area, a vehicle crashing into the business, blocked entrances due to emergency construction like a broken water main, or damage to the premises themselves by fire, weather, or structural issues. If any of the preceding happened to a key vendor’s premises, they might not be able to deliver. Customers fearing a potential storm might postpone work on their house or business structure or may leave the area and cancel any work inside the home. Any number of issues could prevent employee’s ability to get to work including the need to stay home with children due to an unplanned school closure.
The response options in Plan B will vary with the type of business and the nature and duration of the interruption. Here are some examples from businesses I have worked with:
- A few years ago, when there was a fear of a bird flu pandemic potentially closing schools and limiting public access to businesses, a bank developed a plan to provide expanded ATM access and online banking to all customers in the event that they had to close premised due to an insufficient number of tellers being available.
- Both a print shop and a dry cleaner made mutual arrangements with a similar business two counties away to use the other’s shop after hours to produce work for their own customers.
- A local newspaper made a similar agreement with another in a different county and each used that arrangement several times a year when their presses broke down.
- A retail store planned pop-up stores in the mall and at a major flea market.
- A home renovation business made a mutual agreement with a distant one to perform work as a subcontractor in the event that their business was impacted by an event.
- Several restaurants and caterers planned to use each other’s kitchens, and in the event only the dining area was closed, some of the restaurants had a standby delivery service ready to implement.
As you can see, the options are only limited by the ingenuity of the business owner. The other ingredients for a workable Plan B are available cash or a credit line equal to one month’s expenses and having all important information available from anywhere by being in the cloud.
When I teach emergency operations planning, I begin by having attendees imagine that they are in their place of business when a policeman or fireman comes in and tells everybody to leave immediately without going back for any records, laptops, phones, or purses. He or she says this is due to a gas leak and tells everybody to walk swiftly to the end of the street. As everybody arrives at the gathering point an explosion is heard and there is a crater where the business was. I ask:
- Can you account for all the employees and customers who were in the business?
- Do you know your insurance company, agent and policy number?
- Can you contact your customers? How will you serve them while the premises are rebuilt?
- Do you know who your vendors are? Can you tell them where to deliver in the interim?
- Is your alternate location ready to use?
- Will your banking transactions continue seamlessly?
- How will you notify the media about what customers and vendors can expect?
If you had a Plan B, answers to above would be ready to implement.
by Dr. Phil Geist, Area Director, Florida SBDC at UNF
Small-businesses and start-ups range widely in their problems, patterns, and journey, and categorizing those experiences in a meaningful and useful way can be challenging. Yet, despite the uniqueness of their process, almost all entrepreneurs share a similar set of responsibilities. While timeframes, product complexity, organizational structures, and strategic goals vary, every entrepreneur faces at least three core responsibilities for their business: Survival, growth, and direction. These shared responsibilities occur continuously, simultaneously, and yet sequentially, since only if/once successfully managing one can the others be effectively addressed. Therefore, these ongoing activities might also might be considered as three cyclical stages of progress that all small-business owners face. This article will discuss three core questions that any business owner should be able to answer clearly, concisely, and specifically at any stage if they want to navigate the difficult cycles of growth. 
I lived in the Netherlands for 11 years and the Dutch have a saying “Meten is Weten” which means “Measuring is Knowing”. In business, I translate this to “Know Thy Numbers”! I have been working with entrepreneurs and small businesses at the Florida SBDC at UNF for over five years and I am still surprised at how many business owners do not have a handle on managing and administering their finances. I would like to share with you what I call the “5-Line Income Statement”. Author Sara Schafer’s Equation for Business” states:
As part of National Small Business Week (May 5th-11th, 2019) help us celebrate the SBA’s 2019 District and State of Florida Small Business Week Award Winners. Did you know our Northeast Florida Region received seven out of the eight awards including the State of Florida Small Business Person of the Year? Join us when our winners receive their awards at our 
Kalai Sankar is the founder of Shiva Robotics Academy, a robotics education institution for students in grades K-8. A Carnegie Mellon Certified Robotics Instructor and professional LEGO educator, she has introduced after-school robotics programs in 18 Title I schools in Jacksonville. She has partnered with organizations like Renaissance Jax, Communities in Schools, and Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, to help hundreds of Florida students compete in tournaments nationally and internationally. Kalai is the recent recipient of Florida’s Best Robotics Coach award and Jacksonville Business Journal’s Innovator in Education Award.
We say it every year, but it’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. 2018 was a year of professional and private ups and downs for most, but as we usher in 2019 many businesses look for new and sustainable ways to find customers and grow sales.
As noted in my previous blog, Santa and the Elves, at the request of a number of long-time readers, I am bringing back updated versions of two of my Christmas fables for December. In this blog, business owner Dale Wright is visited by the spirits of Business Past, Business Present, and Business Future and learns some valuable lessons. Apologies to Charles Dickens…
Hericlitus of Ephesus (circa 535BC – 475BC) was a Greek philosopher who is credited with creating and documenting the phrase, “Change is the only constant in life.” In the Handbook of Organizational Change and Innovation, edited by Marshal Scott Poole and Andrew Van de Ven [2004 Oxford University Press; ISBN 0-19-513500-8], a number of scholars examine how organizations react to change. A number of contributors discuss how businesses that have a perspective of strategic planning that includes adaptation and champions change are more likely to be sustainable.
