Creating a Backup Plan

What if your studio or office is destroyed by natural disaster?
What if you are in an accident and permanently disabled?
What if your hard drive unexpectedly fails?
What if your flight gets cancelled?
What if your equipment is stolen or damaged?
What if a vendor stops offering a product that is core to your business?

While these are scary questions to ask, it's much easier to face them while they're merely hypothetical questions versus when they become a reality. Having a contingency plan for many different aspects of your business will help you quickly overcome obstacles that may come your way. Here are some of the things that every business needs in order to make it through unforeseen difficulties..

1. Insurance
It seems like such a simple answer, but it's amazing how many businesses aren't properly insured. Having proper insurance is one of the biggest things that can help a business succeed in times of crisis. There are many different types of insurance to protect you and your business in a variety of ways, so it's important to know which types of insurance you need. You may want to start by talking to your current insurance agent to find out if they can cover all of your business needs and what they might suggest for you. It might not be necessary to change insurance agents, but it could be helpful to shop around in order to find a company that can give you the best deal on bundling your insurance needs. Here are just a few policies to consider and ask your insurance agent about....
- Building and Equipment Insurance: in the event that any damage is done to your business assets
- Liability Insurance: should you or your equipment cause harm or damage to someone or something else.
- Disability Insurance: to help preserve your salary in the event that you become disabled and unable to work
- E-Commerce Insurance: to protect electronic documents and recovery of websites or online servers

2. Off-Site Storage
If you store important documents and information about your business and clients on your computer, than you will want to have an off-site backup of that information in the event that anything happens to your onsite hard drives and servers. Likewise, if you have all of your information stored in paper documents, you'll either want an electronic copy or a second paper copy stored offsite. One method is to perform a weekly or monthly backup and physically store your backup drive somewhere else that would not be likely to suffer similar natural disaster to your current location, or you can use an online backup service, such as Egnyte, Mozy, or Carbonite to create regular backups to offsite servers of all the important information on your system. If you need to have an onsite backup, you may want to consider having a fire proof and water proof safe for on-site backup storage.

3. Operations Manual
Many business owners who have no employees or very few employees may not have an operations manual. However, if something fatal were to happen to the owner of the business, would anyone else be able to contact the clients or fulfill the outstanding orders? Creating an operations manual can not only help the business run in the absence of the owner, but it can also serve as a reference manual for everything from a listing of assets, to needed passwords, and valuable vendor information- all of which may be needed in the event of an emergency. For extra assurance, you may want to review these documents on an annual basis with someone who could step in for you in the event of an emergency.

4. Emergency Finances
Whether it's an open line of credit or a healthy savings account, having access to cash when you need it most can be one of the quickest ways to keep your business running smoothly in the event of an emergency. To find out how much is appropriate, you may want to consider how much cash you would need to keep afloat if the absolute worst case scenario happened.

You can never be too prepared, but you can be easily caught off-guard and under-prepared. Obstacles and challenges are inevitable and facing them is not a matter of "if", but rather a matter of "when". Success is measured by your ability to overcome the inevitable challenges of running a business.

Anne Ruthmann is a lifestyle & wedding photographer from Boston, MA. She spent 10 years in the corporate & non-profit world before pursuing her passion for photography. When not behind the computer or camera, she can be found exploring the world with her husband. Follow her on Twitter.

Don't Lose Your Rights

Photographers, Illustrators, Artists... your hard work may be sold out from under you, legally. Please take two minutes to sign this petition online and prevent our government from passing a bill that will allow people to use your work commercially without your permission....
CLICK HERE

(thank you Emilie for bringing this to my attention!)

LOVECAT: Zack Arias

Check out Zack Arias's Site all week long for great hands-on advice about how to rock a white background like a superstar!!! Zack is one of the true lovecats in the photography business and the knowledge he has shared with other photographers has seriously raised the bar for great lighting and creative work in our industry. The following photo is from Zack's site, click the image to get yourself some tasty knowledge....

The 5 P's

Often when I interview with a bride they tell me "Gosh, I'm not even sure what to ask! You're the first photographer we've talked to."

Here are the 5 P's that I go through with the client (after we establish a connection through some chit chat):

1. Photography - Do you like the photographer's style, range, quality, experience, etc?
2. Personality - It's gonna be a long day unless we're a good fit...
3. Professionalism - Does the photographer have a good grasp of contracts, punctuality, communication, etc.
4. Products - Does the photographer off the albums, prints, negatives, online proofing, etc that you are seeking?
5. Pricing - Is it in the budget? If not, can we shift our priorities to fit it in the budget?

I tell my couples (and truly believe this) that they need to find the perfect photographer for them and this is a great evaluation tool. I also tell them it's a two way interview...(but relax!). I'm looking for a couple who wants my style, fits with my personality, appreciates professionalism, wants the products I offer, and (of course) can afford my prices.

We walk through each P; I ask them questions about their expectations and wants and let them talk. Then I talk about how I work in each area, and point out where I align with their desires. If there are glaring differences (eg, they want 100 formal photo groupings) I mention those too. I want to set an expectation of honesty and I certainly don't want to be in a situation where my clients expect something that I don't want to do. When we reach pricing, I pull out my fancy price sheet, and just sit back and let them talk amongst themselves for a few minutes.

So I have a few questions for you:

1. Do you have a plan for when potential clients don't know what to ask? What has worked for you?

2. Do you know where you stand on each of the P's? Are you comfortable explaining your position, even if it doesn't align with what the bride wants?

All the best,
Jillian Kay

Get the Full Story

I'll be honest - I'm not the calmest, most rational person you'll meet. Just today I had a near melt down after reading the subject line of an email. (Just take my word that I was able to read the subject lines but wasn't able to access the emails.) I'd been planning for several weeks to go on a weekend trip with a friend, so when I saw the subject line "I've changed my plans" ...well, I immediately came to the conclusion that the weekend was over.

My mind started racing....why would the plans change? Am I just not that important? What about the appointments I'd turned down to keep our weekend? What about last weekend, when you also decided to change plans...are you avoiding me? Did I do something to upset you? What's going on?

At first, I felt like I had done something wrong to cause it....then realizing I hadn't....I became offended. My heart was racing, I wanted to punch something. It would be 3 hours before I would have full email access....and I knew that would give me plenty of time to work up a mean spirited email reply in my head!!

Then my better senses kicked in (it took a good 3 minutes). I didn't have all the information....what if the change of plans was reasonable? So I called to get the full information before my imagination ran any wilder.

"Hi, so, um, I can't read the email yet, but I see that you wrote me an email titled 'change of plans'...what's that about?"
"Um....you need to read your email more often."
"What?"
"I wrote you that email last weekend, when I had to change plans."
"Ohhhhhhhh."
"Are we still on for this weekend?"
"Yes!"

Turns out, I was the guilty party. I missed an email buried in the spam and advertisements my personal account receives. Not only was this weekend still on, but last weekend was completely explained!

We are all prone to making emotional snap judgments. Clients write ambiguous emails, miss appointments, ask unusual questions, or a dozen other things that cause us to immediately start fuming. The longer we stew over it and try to come up with our own explanations, the more upset we become. And lets face it, even when we find out that we were wrong...we still hang on to that emotional scar. We're still hurt, whether we had a right to be or not.

So when you feel your blood pressure rising and a million possibilities are running through your mind...give the other person the benefit of the doubt. Give them a call and ask clarifying questions. Try to postpone reacting to the situation ...at least until you really understand what the situation is.

Now if I could only find time to do some laundry before I leave for the trip....

All the best,
Jillian Kay