Self Improvement Articles

Do You Need a Disaster Recovery Plan?

The short answer is yes, you do need a disaster recovery plan. No matter how small your business is, if you have a plan in place, you’ll come out of any type of disaster a lot better than if you don’t make plans.

Let’s consider the kinds of things you need to plan for, which will vary depending on the type of business you own.

Documented Response Plan

The first thing you need to create is a plan regarding how you will respond in the event of a disaster. More than likely, you’ll have a different response prepared based on the various things that can happen to you in your area in terms of natural disasters and so forth.

Protecting Your Equipment

Make a list of all the equipment that you use to do your business and anything that you use in your life that makes it easier to do your business. Make sure you have the right type of insurance that will enable you to quickly replace what needs replacing to keep working. Take pictures of everything you have and attach a copy of the receipt to it, so it’s easier to justify.

Keeping a Detailed Inventory of Your Assets

Further to the above, take pictures of everything that you may lose in a disaster related to your business, or that enables you to do your business. Attach a copy of the purchase receipts to the images. You can keep physical copies, but you’re better off scanning it all and keeping it in the cloud for easy access.

Ensuring Your Data Integrity

One thing that is important during disasters is to know what is happening to your data. For example, if there is a fire that burns down the server that keeps your data, do they have redundant systems that enable them to back it up in an unaffected area?

Checking Your Backup Systems

Every bit of content you generate internally and externally needs to be backed up. In most cases, a cloud server system can help you ensure the integrity of the data you are keeping, but you’ll want to talk to the owners to ensure that it all works the way you think it does. It might also help to create step-by-step directions on how to access information if your primary method of doing so is ruined.

Vendor and Service Provider Information

If your ability to communicate is ruined – for example, if you have all the information on your computer or your smartphone which is lost or destroyed in a disaster, how will you contact any vendors and service providers that work with you? Have a plan in place so that you can find them regardless.

Access to Funds

In any disaster, the one thing that can prevent a small business owner from success is access to funds. If you’re running a tight and lean business, you may not need much to keep your business afloat. However, if you don’t have insurance or a backup account that will let you replace your systems fast, you may lose it all due to that disaster.

Anything can happen. You can wake up today to a bright sunny day and end the day with a disaster. If you’re not ready, it will make it a lot worse for you and your customers. However, if you have a plan in place, you can simply pull out the plan you’ve created based on possible disaster sceneries you may face, and get started with your recovery fast. It doesn’t matter if your business consists of one person or 100 people – a plan will ensure that you can keep your business going no matter what.

How to Use Your Feminine and Masculine Energy While in Business

If we look at a list of the top CEOs in the world, almost all of them are men. If we look at the US, there has never been a woman president, though there have been female statesmen at the head of many other countries for many years. Why is this the case?

It isn’t simply an issue of gender; it is an issue of masculine versus feminine energy. Male energy is very action-oriented, driving hard and not permitting there to be more than one way to do things or look at things. Female energy on the other hand is very creative, flowing and allows for other approaches and points of view.

Both men and women possess masculine and feminine energies. It has nothing to do with sexual orientation and everything to do with action and communication. Yin and yang, Shakti and Shiva, female and male energies, have been seen as different for thousands of years, and the goal has been to balance them in order to maintain harmony.

There are a number of ways to use your feminine energy in the workplace without seeming too “weak” or “girlie”.

A Harmonious Workplace

“Business as usual” is the attitude in most companies; one that is driven into workers no matter what the reality of the situation and economy. Emotions are discouraged, action is encouraged, and any voice of seeming dissent is disregarded or gotten rid of through lay-offs.

But workers are human beings, not human doings. They will also get disgusted and leave a company where they feel they are not being valued as people. Women will often be those who work harder even under the toughest circumstances, and also set the tone. Women are more comfortable with strong emotions than men and can therefore express them in positive, problem-solving ways, not fly off the handle and bully others the way some male managers will.

A Creative Workspace

Feminine energy also leads to more creativity, something that is not usually encouraged in businesses where people just want to get the job done and go home. “I wonder what would happen if,” is not a dangerous phrase in a work environment that is feminine in nature, and that’s where true innovation and achievement can begin.

Nurturing Leadership and Mentorship

Feminine leadership tends to be more nurturing, and like a mentor-mentee relationship. Look at the number of women who go into education and work as teachers. Yet most administrative roles such as principal and dean go to men. Women value connection and foster personal growth in the workplace. They understand the value of team work, not the “lone wolf” approach.

Women can also transition from masculine to feminine energy more easily. It is great to get input about a new project, but it is also essential to meet the deadlines.

Women entrepreneurs should not make any apology for their feminine energy or try to “man up”. Instead, they need to embrace the differences and study the best times to switch from one energy type to the other, in order to run their business efficiently.