Redundancy

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     Redundancy is extremely important in business. Especially in small business. You want to back up everything.

     In small business, you are your own back up. There are no big corporate coffers full of cash. There are no extra employees you can call on. There is no extra computer setup. Fires, floods, and power outages can occur with little, or no, warning. 

     Example: Sue runs a small, but successful embroidery operation. She has one embroidery machine. She puts logos on company uniforms, adds names on caps and shirts, and handles work for local sports teams, organizations and other businesses. One day, her machine went down. Repairs would take weeks. She immediately made arrangements with another embroidery operation some distance away to handle current work. And she ordered a second embroidery machine. Now she has backup to handle future emergencies.

     Example: Mary runs a high end gift shop. The hottest items are handmade jewelry. She makes arrangements with artists to supply earrings, necklaces, pins and brooches that will appeal to her customers. Early on, Mary realized that artists worked on their own schedules, but Mary had to be able to supply a large selection for customers. She achieves redundancy by working with a large number of artist-suppliers. Her display cases are always full with more jewelry pieces always in the pipeline.  

     Example: Tom is a trained chef who started his own catering business. A fire broke out in his kitchen, destroying his operation. To keep up with catering jobs already booked, Tom quickly made arrangements with several restaurants to supply items needed to meet schedules. The important thing was to keep the catering business viable. It took a month to get his own kitchen back into full operation, but the clients continued to be served. Today, Tom has put together an informal arrangement with several caterers and restaurants in his area. This small organization can meet the emergency needs for any of the members. 

     Example: Frank has recently established his computer coaching business in his home. He handles several small businesses in the area. Then the power went down for several hours one day. He realized he needed power backup. He now has a generator to supply power without interruption in case of a power emergency. 

     Redundancy can be a valuable asset in small business. Power outages, fire, flood, equipment breakdowns, even employee absences can trigger serious problems in small businesses.

     Backup is very important. See to it before it happens.

     Looking ahead is one of the most important parts of running a small business. You are your own backup. Always have a plan in place--just in case the unthinkable happens.