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Small business needs to consider:
- Data backup and recovery
- Customer information
- Email correspondence
- Financial information
- Sales and shipping
- Other data that cannot be replaced
- Anti-virus software
- Firewall management
If you are in a retail business and your technology fails for whatever reason, ensure you have a system in place for manual invoicing, cash sales and manual credit card transacting, to minimise or prevent loss from being unable trade while a resolution is sought.
Passwords and data security
You probably already have too many passwords to keep track of, from the basic PC and network logon to multi-point security for online banking and other financial services. Then you have to ensure your passwords are safe from unauthorised access. This is where password management software comes in. Not only is it good for keeping all your passwords on or offline, it can also help generate security password levels to protect your vital data from prying eyes.
Examples of password software solutions include:
Changing consumer behaviours
In the words of Bob Dylan, “The times they are a changin',” and small businesses need to watch their industry and be aware of the changes that can affect their entire business model. In the early 2000s we saw the collapse of Webster Publishing, a leading educational CD-ROM company in the 1990s that was unable to continue its market share of CD-ROM distribution against free online encyclopaedias, such as Wikipedia and internet search engines in general. Businesses that don't adapt and evolve their revenue models do not survive. New opportunities, avenues and endeavours need to be explored every step of the way.
Future-proofing technology
The humble record shop can no longer be found on every corner and the once-thriving video store seemed destined for the same fate - until recently. With Foxtel's imminent release of movies on demand, Video Ezy had to adapt its business model. Recent news articles indicate the embattled corporation will be releasing an Electronic Video Store, which its 3.5 million customers will be able to buy and install in their homes. There has been an ongoing debate as to how to distribute movies, but video retailers, who have struggled against slow broadband services, have finally come up with an alternative.
Subscribers will be able to preview movie shorts on their home set-top box and then choose the ones they want to rent. When they visit the virtual video store, the selected movies will be encrypted and copied on to an iPod or other USB storage device. A passkey will need to be entered and the customer will be able to view the movie for a set period of time.
To keep abreast of where your particular industry is heading, subscribe to related magazines and online newsletters, and try to make time for conferences and expos about the technology-driven changes that are happening in your market.
All eggs in one basket
Another business contingency often overlooked by small business is dependence on one large customer or supplier. Take, for example, an Australian, familyowned soap and toiletries manufacturer that had been a supplier to a major supermarket chain for many years. Their long relationship with the chain ended when the buyer at the chain retired and the replacement no longer wanted to continue purchasing the product. A devastating blow for most businesses, however the company adapted its wholesale model and continues to grow its business and use its factory and infrastructure to service a number of brand names.
Location, real estate and business
Some businesses are dependent on their location for their business. For example, if you have retail premises that rely on passing traffic or you have been able to achieve cheap rent in a warehouse for many years, changes to local real estate prices, or big developments could have a devastating effect on your business. How do you protect a local group of shops against the new mega-mall? Unfortunately, there isn't one easy answer, but adaptability and change are core to longevity. Factories often need to be relocated as real estate prices and developers revamp industrial areas into uptown urban apartments, and small business owners need to develop and establish their niche. The local butcher needs to become a specialist in providing ready-made meals and the local deli needs to become organic or gourmet to attract people away from supermarkets. Each individual business needs to find its place, its market and secure its customer base to ensure ongoing viability.
Loss of a key staff member, partner or core skilled individual
Colin Bennie, from Sydney Business Exchange, says one of the main reasons for people needing to sell their business is due to loss of people or skills from a business. Too often, this is due to illness or relationship or partnership breakdown. Research from the Chartered Management Institute further supports this with only 29 per cent of small businesses addressing potential loss of people, despite the fact that 35 per cent experienced business disruption as a result of this in the past year.
Too many small business owners and managers keep crucial information in their head, rather than recording it. A business is very vulnerable when one person is core to its success. Business owners should establish procedures and processes for each step of their business activities, and ensure they are recorded in a central place, both electronically and in a procedures manual, for easy access and use by all staff.
Communicating your contingency plan
Another major area of business concern is the failure of small business owners to communicate their contingency plans to staff. What happens to your business if the chef calls in sick, there is a black-out, or the server won't reboot? What happens if the supplier of your speciality product goes broke? Do you have an alternative supplier? Few small companies include business contingency plans in staff inductions and most fail to communicate contingency so a business can continue to run smoothly. The best plan of attack for small businesses is to heed the advice of the Scout motto “Be prepared”.
Risk assessment
Llewellyn Jones, NRMA 's head of retail business insurance, offers this advice on protecting your business