Set Backs

Avoiding Unnecessary Setbacks With Your Business

Entrepreneurship is already an endeavour that naturally requires a lot of focus, dedication, and attention to detail — and as fundamentally rewarding as it can be to run your own business, every entrepreneurial venture is also bound to be quite challenging and to come with setbacks over time.

For these reasons — among others — no entrepreneur needs to invite more setbacks and problems into their professional lives than they can strictly help having to deal with. Yet, perhaps unfortunately, missteps are as common among entrepreneurs as among anyone else.

Here are just a few tips and suggestions on avoiding unnecessary setbacks within your business, so that you can spend your time and energy as productively as possible, instead of having to remain in problem solving mode for an inordinate amount of time.

Opt for tools with secure cloud backup functionality

In the not-so-distant past, unforeseen events such as a fire or a flood at the office could conceivably destroy some extremely important documents, with the end result being that the business was out a substantial amount of money — or was even forced to close operations altogether.

With the current ubiquity of computers in the workplace, the situation has obviously radically changed — but new threats to those important files, contracts, and other documents have now emerged.

For one thing, data loss is a real risk that all businesses need to be mindful of. A power surge or virus could destroy or corrupt essential files on your hard drives and internal network — and this could be absolutely devastating for your business.

Cybercrime and data theft poses a potentially even greater threat — and cyber criminals are known to be developing more and more targeted approaches over time.

Opting for good document management software tools with secure cloud backup functionality, might help to avert many potential problems in your business.

Budget for unforeseen expenses

In the effort to be as efficient and “zero waste” as possible, certain businesses might operate on very tight budgets, while leaving absolutely no “buffer” in place to protect against unforeseen expenses — whether in the form of needing to bring in a contractor at the last minute, or in the form of replacing tools.

Setting aside some of your budget for unforeseen expenses can help you to absorb these kinds of costs as and when they arise — which will almost certainly be more often than “never.”

Keep in touch with a number of different suppliers, freelancers, etc.

If you work with freelancers from time to time in your business, then keeping in touch with freelancers who you’ve had a good experience with previously and bringing them on board again from time to time, is a good practice.

Likewise, keeping the contact details of several different prospective suppliers on hand is something to consider, too.

There are likely to be situations in your professional life where staff members unexpectedly quit or are unavailable, where suppliers change management and their quality suffers, and so on.

Rather than having to start everything again from scratch, it can be a very good thing to have some people to call.