|
 |
Is Your Business Safe? |
|
| |
|
Well, is it! Do you back up your files on a regular basis?
Do you have a back up plan in place? What's important to
your business and what isn't? What happens if you get hurt,
who will run your business? Do you have customers come to
your business? What if they get hurt, are you covered? What
about all the equipment you have, is it covered?
These are all questions a home based business owner, (in
fact, any business owner) should have answers to and plans
in place for.
You must have a system in place to back up your files. Since
most of us use computers today, be sure you back up at least
once a week. If you really want to be efficient and make it
easy on yourself, get a Maxtor hard drive with the one
button back up feature. For less than $200, you can not
afford to be without one if you have a lot of files. If you
don't have that many files then a Zip drive will suffice. We
have an I-Omega that cost us only $70.
Ok, you say what should I back up? Anything that is
important to you. Your customer database, templates you use
on a consistent basis. If you are like us and sell
e-manuals, and books, you need to have them backed up. We
have all of our products backed up on disk, CD, and a mirror
copy of our hard drive. We back up once a week. We use the
Maxtor drive with one button back up. However, if I am
working on a project, I back it up every time I make a
change. In fact, whenever I am working during the day I use
a working disk that I save to in addition to saving on my
hard disk. When I save a document I am working on, I then go
to save as and save it on my disk drive. This avoids not
having an up to date document if my computer crashes. So
your backup would consist of files you use a lot, customer
database, your products, and anything else that is
imperative to keeping your business up and running.
Now what do you do with these back ups. Well, if you are
smart you have a Safe that is fireproof, and you put your
disk and hard disk back ups in the Safe. When you do your
weekly back ups you pull them out and just overwrite them.
If you haven't made any changes on your product disks then
you don't have to do them. You want to be sure your Safe is
fireproof for at least 2 hours. We have a Sentry Safe. While
not an inexpensive business expense, it is a very important
one. Depending on how much you need to put in a Safe cost
will vary. In addition to having back ups in your Safe, you
should also have a set of back ups that are located off
site. For example, a safety deposit box is a great place for
back up copies, important papers etc.
As a business owner you also need to have disability
insurance. So if you get hurt you are covered until you are
up and running again. There are number of companies that
deal specifically in disability insurance. I would suggest
however you check them out carefully, and ask to speak to
long time customers for references. You want to be sure they
pay when you need them to without having to go through
hoops, or canceling your coverage afterwards.
And most important is an insurance policy. The best home
business policy we have found is by Hartford Insurance. They
have a policy specifically for home based businesses. They
cover everything. Obviously cost will depend on the limits
you set. This is the best policy we have found out there.
For those of you that are AARP members you can call
1-888-466-9675 to inquire about this program. By the way, if
you are 50 and over becoming a AARP member is a must.
If you want to keep your business and yourself safe be sure
to implement the procedures outlined. Believe us, you will
be glad you did.
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
