emergency Archives - Canadian Small Business Women

The holidays are just around the corner and hopefully you’re planning some well deserved time off. Yet if you’re a small business owner it can be difficult to take the time you need to rest and rejuvenate for the New Year. Emails, phone calls and the ping of social media notifications can be hard to ignore. You also worry that your online presence might suffer from your absence. But it’s important to know how and when to unplug, without losing your spot on the social media hierarchy.

Schedule content ahead of time

If you’re not already using a social media dashboard such as Hootsuite or Buffer, now is the time to look into one. Dashboards make scheduling content easy and can act as an inbox for all those notifications. Schedule a tweet or post a day. That’s enough to stay alive online, but not so much that the responses become unmanageable.

Set a time limit

Set aside ten minutes a day to check the accounts; then shut it down and walk away. By setting a time limit you can reassure yourself that all is well, without taking up too much of your personal time. Check to make sure there are no emergencies but then shut off the notifications. If you use Hootsuite you can actually create “quiet time” where your notifications go silent. Better yet, turn off the phone.

Only answer urgent inquiries

Be smart about what you respond to. Is that question urgent? Is that issue an emergency? It’s easy to want to answer everything right away, but many of the queries you receive can wait a few days until you’re back at work. Only answer those questions that are truly urgent.

Allow yourself to let go

Too often we get caught up in the details. While one negative tweet might seem catastrophic at the time, in the overall big picture it’s not worth much worry. The same goes for checking the Facebook page and sending out that tweet. If you go silent for a few days, nothing terrible will happen. Your business will not fail and your customers will not desert you. In fact they’re probably not online either.

My past experience as a social media manager for a large charity taught me the importance of work-life balance when it comes to managing your online communications. While being online and listening is important, having the courage to turn it off and take time for yourself and your family is just as, if not more, important.

So this holiday, turn off the phone and enjoy the season. I promise your followers will still be there in January.

Happy Holidays.

Evelyn Senyi is the owner and chief marketer for Recurve Marketing, a Toronto-based digital marketing agency that offers creative, effective and affordable marketing strategies for Canadian small businesses and non-profit organizations. Follow Recurve on Twitter @recurve_ca and on Facebook www.facebook.com/recurvemarketing.ca.

How well prepared are you for the unexpected? What would happen to your business if you became unexpectedly incapacitated and unable to take care of your business for a while? Does your spouse, family, co-owner, or best friend know where to find the keys to your business or store, how to access client contact information to let them know of delays, or know how to get in touch with your landlord or bank manager about delayed payments?

Nobody plans to get run over or break their arm or leg while skiing, skating, slipping on wet leaves, or [insert your own most likely accident]. The reality is, life happens, so wouldn’t you rather prepare your dear ones with a list of emergency to do’s?

Recently I have had several conversations with James Cockfield, an investment adviser with BMO Nesbitt Burns. He invited me to a presentation by one of his BMO colleagues, James Kraft, on “Succession Planning for Business Owners”. The focus of the talk was on the top 10 pitfalls when planning to sell or pass on your business. Although that may lie further in the future than most of us can or want to consider, the finer points can affect any business owner.

After the presentation, James C. and I lightheartedly discussed which kind of emergency list I should prepare in case I got “struck and vaporised by a huge meteorite” (his scenario). I amended his scenario to something assuring my survival, like ‘being flung across a field by a crashing meteorite’.

As you picture me lying in a field with some broken limbs, consider my situation if you might: Sole proprietor, leasing a commercial space for business, single, and family lives in Europe. Whom do you call; after you’ve called 911?

James Cockfield suggests, “Just start with a list: Who’s your bank manager? Who has a key to your business? How can someone contact your landlord?” These are crucial aspects for me, as I would hate to see my siblings in Europe or my local friends burdened with trying to figure these things out, as I lay in a hospital bed, shocked speechless from almost being hit by a meteorite.

So, I will start making my list and checking it twice. And then, most importantly, give a copy to a couple of chosen local, trustworthy contacts and my family.

For help with your list or if you’re thinking about selling or passing on your business in the next 1-3 years, contact James Cockfield, James.Cockfield@nbpcd.com, and ask for a positive outcome not involving large objects falling out of the sky.

Martina Rowley is the founder and operator of Beach Business Hub – THE coworking space east of the Don Valley. She combined her passion and experience in the environmental sector with her community engagement side to create a local work environment where space and resources are shared. She fosters and facilitates collaboration, networking, and learning for and with small business owners and new startups. Contact her at:http://www.beachbusinesshub.ca, on Facebook and on Twitter

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