I’m a recent Hurricane Rita evacuee and survived the evacuation and the ensuing hurricane. Running from a hurricane isn’t something I’ve ever had to do before, nor is it something I’d ever like to do again. However, as a solo business owner, I’m quite thankful that I have a virtual business. The fact that I’m virtual and can operate from anywhere that there’s electricity and phone service was of great help to me in this disaster and helped me reopen my business a scant 4 days after the landfall of Hurricane Rita.

As a solopreneur, what can you do to make your business disaster-proof? It seems that we have an increasing number of hurricanes making landfall in the coastal states, and add to that an increased number of other types of natural disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, mud slides, ice storms, blizzards, etc. makes me think that there is no ideal location in which to operate a business. Now accepting that natural disasters are here to stay, here’s what I learned from my hurricane evacuation that helped me get my business back up and running quickly:

1. Know the location of your vital papers. You should be able to quickly put into a folder the following for you and your family: your marriage license, birth certificate, social security card, driver’s license or state ID card, car title/mortgage info and insurance contact info, house deed/mortgage info and insurance contact info, employee ID card, and apartment lease or copy of a utility bill. In a disaster, you’ll be asked to prove where you live and that you are who you claim you are, especially when applying for disaster assistance.

2. Have an online backup of all of your computer data. I back up my computer in two ways–to an external portable hard drive as well as to an online backup service. I use both because my files are my livelihood — I would be dead in the water without them — so I want to leave absolutely no room to lose my data. For my external backup, I use a 30 GB portable drive made by Iomega, www.iomega.com, and for my online backup, I have 10 GB of space that I pay for at XDrive, www.xdrive.com.

3. Create an file with vital contact information. I copied a file with all of my usernames and passcodes for websites, bank accounts, etc. to my USB flash drive (a key chain-like device with 512 MB or 1 GB of memory — I use one from Lexar, www.lexar.com) as well as the physical and email addresses and all phone numbers of friends, clients and family members — anyone I needed to contact during the evacuation period. You’ll also want to take along your children’s school contact info to be able to check on the current operating status of your child’s school, as well as local media website info. My lifeline in getting current information about my home city was through the websites of Beaumont’s newspapers and television and radio stations. If you keep your contact info in Outlook and have a Yahoo account, Yahoo offers a synchronization feature in which you can synchronize all of your info in Outlook to your Yahoo account. Find out more here: http://help.yahoo.com/help/intsync. All you need to access your info in Yahoo is a computer and to know your username and password.

4. Know the primary office/computer equipment that will be required to get your business up and running. I had operated with a minimal amount of my office equipment recently due to my being a house sitter for a friend for 2 months. So, upon receiving the mandatory evacuation order, I knew in relatively short order that to run my business, I needed my desktop PC, flat panel monitor, wireless mouse and keyboard, speakers, modem and associated cords, backup portable external hard drive, office telephone and associated cords, laptop computer, printer, box of software, and scanner. It sounds like a great deal of equipment, but I packed it all into 2 boxes from UHaul (1 small and 1 medium box). I knew I could work for at least 2 months comfortably with just this equipment.

5. Primary paper files for your clients/business. I have 2 sets of files — ones for the immediate short-term that I use frequently and my lateral file drawer files that are primarily reference files. I grabbed the contents of the two drawers of my 2-drawer file cabinet (which hold my immediate short-term files), all of which fit into one small UHaul box.

6. A backup telephone plan. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for phone service for my business, as all of my clients are scattered across the US and in Canada. Just to be safe, I upgraded my cell phone plan, and had a prepaid calling card (purchased an AT&T calling card at Sam’s, www.samsclub.com) at my disposal if I needed it. As luck would have it, my hotel offered an unlimited Internet access/long distance plan for an additional $1.88 per day, so I happily signed up for that, saving myself a fortune in phone calls and Internet service fees.

7. A backup Internet access plan. Since power restoration to my home was estimated at 2-8 weeks, I had to find temporary lodgings. I looked for a hotel that offered high speed Internet access and was able to use their system for my Internet access. However, once I found the hotel, I also called the tech support of my DSL ISP and found the local dial-up numbers for the area in which the hotel is located. I never had to use the dial-up service, but it was good info to have. If you have cable or DSL Internet service, now is the time to discover alternate Internet access plans to be able to get online should your DSL or cable access be out-of-service. You should also know how to access your email online through your ISP if you don’t have access to your computer. If your ISP doesn’t offer a version of webmail, you can use this service free-of-charge, www.mail2web.com.

8. Adequate office supplies for a month. I threw in pens, pencils, post-it notes, a calculator, stamps, envelopes, tape, stapler, paper clips, note pads, etc. that would last me at least a month while I was out of my office. I used a portable plastic file case in which to carry these items.

9. Outline of your office procedures to help you operate independently or be able to delegate tasks. I carry much of my info in my head to run my office, or have what I need stored in various files across my computer. What makes more sense for the future is to document all of my office procedures, as well as computer and client info, so that everything I need is in one document. I can then upload this doc to my Yahoo account, my backup files, or carry it with my on my USB flash drive. My colleague, Jean Hanson, has designed a great template that asks you to note and record everything someone would need to know to get your business back up and running. It’s the Home Office Procedures Manual, available for purchase here: http://tinyurl.com/bagxs

10. Digital camera to record the event and/or record damages to personal property. I wish I’d had a digital camera to record all that I witnessed during my evacuation from Hurricane Rita. My sister took tons of pics, but I would’ve loved to have had the same opportunity. More importantly, however, is the need for a digital camera to record damage to your home and property. In a wide-spread disaster, it can be at least a month before your insurance adjuster will be able to assess damages to your property. In the meantime, however, you need to start repairs, like placing a tarp on your roof, boarding up broken windows, removing downed trees from your house or yard, or cleaning your refrigerator of spoiled food. In many cases, your insurance will cover the repairs or food replacement, but you need to carefully document the “before” scenario in order to receive compensation for your loss.

Don’t let a natural disaster destroy your business. Take some time now to prepare your disaster-readiness plan, and get back into business as soon as you can!

My neighbor asked me, “Why would anyone sell a successful company?”. He could not understand why anyone would leave a business that was doing well. Of course successful companies get sold all the time.

So why do these business owners sell? The short answer is that most closely held businesses sell for human reasons, such as burn out, retirement, illness, partnership disputes, family issues or other personal reasons. Usually the business is fine but the human being running the business needs a change. To understand this better it is key to understand the other options for exiting a business.

Close the Business/Liquidation

Closing a business that is profitable never makes sense. Even if the assets are liquidated the price is likely to be pennies on the dollar versus selling the business as a going concern with employees, customers and a reputation that is intact. Not only does the business owner get the lowest value but the employees, vendors and customers are hurt by this type of exit.

Accident, Illness or Death

No one wants to exit their business this way, but many do. The loss of an owner not only creates tremendous issues for the family but also creates a leadership void in the business. Even the most competent management can struggle when a key business leader is lost to a serious accident, illness or death. No one plans for this type of exit but many end up exiting the business this way because they failed to create an alternate plan.

Succession

Succession by a family member or key employee has its benefits. They know the business, its product or service, employees, customers and vendors. Succession can be operationally successful for the exiting owner if they make sure the successor is carefully selected, qualified and groomed for the position. The owner must be careful not to make an emotional choice of a relative or favorite employee but instead choose the successor with the right skills to lead the company into the future. You are not seeking an “Employee” mentality but an “Owner” mentality. If that rare person can be found in the business who can make the transition to Owner, they often do not have the cash needed to purchase the business. They are also likely to want to pay less for the business as familiarity will blind them to many of the value drivers of the company. So although succession can be operationally successful it is rarely a financial success for the outgoing owner.

Sell

Closing or liquidating the business minimizes the value to the owner. Accident, illness or death forces the issue on the owner. Succession provided a very limited pool of options with limited financial reward.

Selling on the other hand allows the business owner to decide their ideal timing, maximize the value of the business they worked so hard to build, coordinate the use of the sale proceeds for financial planning and align their personal goals with the sale of a business. Selling the business allows the business owner to create a wealth event and often significant on-going passive income without having to run their business.

Whatever they are, human reasons are always pushing and pulling on a business owner. Burn out, stress, divorce, illness, partner disputes and limited growth capital are some of the human reasons that push owners out of the business. Retirement, enjoying life, relocating, a new business opportunity and passive income are some of the reasons that pull a business owner out. Whatever the motivation, the fundamental reason a business owner chooses a sale as their ideal exit plan is control. The business owner chooses to understand the value of their business and to proactively pursue the right buyer and the right price. By selling a business you choose to exit your business by choice, not by force.

The professional team at Sunbelt Midwest can help you confidentially sell or buy a business in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, and surrounding areas. For more information check out our site at http://www.sunbeltmidwest.com.

Are you are an active individual who posses a lot of creativity? Are you an organized person with great people skills? Do you love to organize events? Interested in earning a living out of doing what you love? Then event planning is the perfect venture for you!

At present, an increasing number of organizations and individuals depend on event planners to organize their special events. From the task of creating the theme of the event to the task of supervision of the event itself, all these are now carried out by the event planner. The number one reason for outsourcing these events are the constraints in time, resources and energy. Organizing an event involves a lot of hard work and hassle, and many people would rather outsource it to the capable hands of event planners and enjoy the special occasion with their guests.

To establish a successful event planning venture it doesn’t cost you a fortune. But it helps to have some past experience in this profession. For example if you have organized events at your office or neighborhood that experience would yield benefits for you. In addition to the skills you already posses, consider obtaining a degree or a certificate in this area to make your venture more beneficial since some people look for designations when hiring planners.

Event planning can be divided into two main market segments. Social events segment will include informal or simple celebrations such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, children’s parties, reunions, etc. while the corporate events segment would include events owned by private organizations, corporations, businesses, charities, non-profit organizations and political parties. Some of the events which fall under this category are conferences, product launches, company parties, trade shows, company trips, fundraises, meetings and so on.

You can select the market segment you would cater your services to. Also for a given segment you can focus your services in all these events or one or two of them. For example if you select to cater your services to the social events segment then you could specialize in weddings only.

The start up cost for this venture will mainly depend on the cost of living in your area. Equipment such as a high speed computer, color printer and fax machine are essentials for this profession. Also you should obtain an internet connection, a telephone connection, a mobile phone and other equipment to maintain a steady stream of correspondence with your clients and suppliers.

Event planning is not a 9 to 5 job. You would be required to work evenings, holidays and weekends as well. It is a job which requires you to constantly be on alert and be accessible 24/7. When starting up your business the best way to reduce risks is to research and educate yourself regarding the industry, demand for events, vendors and suppliers and the competition you may face.

Once you have undertaken an event you would be required to research and find out exactly what the client is expecting from you. The next step would be to organize and coordinate the event. You will need to rent a site, hire vendors for food, décor and entertainment, plan transportation, send invitations, arrange any necessary accommodations, coordinate activities of event personnel, etc while keeping contact with the client to ensure that everything is working out according to his/her interests. On the day of the event you would be responsible to oversee all activities in order for the event to work out successfully. Once an event has been completed you should conduct an evaluation and find out whether it was a success. The goal is to end up with highly satisfied clients and guests who will happily spread the word regarding your services.

When fixing a price to your service you should ensure that it covers all the costs you have endured and it leaves you with an acceptable profit. Your fee will depend on factors such as the market segment to which you are catering, locality, the demand for services, your qualifications and experience. There are mainly four methods of pricing in this profession, by the hour – where an hourly rate is set for your service, by percentage – where a percentage is selected out of the total budget, by fee for services – where each specific task would have a set rate or by commissionable rates/ add on’s – where a handling fee will be charged to all the services provided.

The best marketing methods in this profession is networking and word of mouth advertising. In addition to this you can also utilize business cards, brochures, ads in the local papers/magazines and a website to market your services.