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What’s the Plan? Continued...

 “Good morning Mr. Isaac.” “Buenos días Diego.” Isaac has just stepped out of the bar and ran into an acquaintance. “Where are you off to in such a hurry señor?” “The electricity went out last night Diego, and all of my ice cubes have melted.” Diego is a local merchant, who runs a small store in the town centre where he sells memorabilia to tourists. “Oh, I see, I think it was out all over last night, so everyone will be in the same predicament.” “Everyone back home would have a back-up plan like a generator, because they can’t go an hour without their television.” The two men laugh. “Yes, Mr. Isaac, but ice cubes are very important for a bar, so you should have a back-up plan.”

In our era of technology, we sometimes find ourselves bogged down with the ‘how’ versus the ‘what.’ We have moved from paperbacks to ebooks, make notes in our phones versus a book and pen, rely on banks cards versus carrying cash, and even use an app on our phone to buy a cup of coffee.


And then the battery dies, and an ice storm takes down our lines!


The business world has become obsessed with technology to the point we can no longer function without it. How many times have stores lost sales because the ATM terminals were down? How many days have communities been without power because of a major storm?


One winter’s night I was shopping at a large retail chain store, when the power went out; there were at least twenty people in the lines for the tills, each with an assortment of items ranging from one, to a cart full. The staff were paralyzed, and the manager instructed all customers to place their items on the floor, and leave. Not only did the store lose the sales this day, but they incurred overtime for their staff to return every item back to the shelf.


In my days of retail, we pulled out a foolscap, wrote down the item and price, the customers carried cash, and for those with a credit card, we had three copy carbon slips and a manual imprinter. 


There are many parts to a Business Continuity Plan including a way to make a sale during a blackout, a secondary location in the event of a fire or flood, auxiliary power, and regular back-ups of your data. What is your Business Continuity Plan?


Our Forward Looking Guide: ‘What’s the Plan’ is available in e-reader at the following link. We will provide you thoughts on Contingency Planning, and we have even included your checklist! https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08NHSYDMR (or go to Amazon and search for the title or author Daniel W Elliot.)


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