Have you ever heard of "life-proofing" your business? The idea behind it is whenever the hard and unexpected parts of life happen, your business can keep going without you for a certain amount of time and be unaffected by life. Hence the term life-proof. As a service-based business owner whose job is to show up, you might be wondering, "how is that possible?" For now, ask yourself these questions to get an idea of where you're starting.
You might be surprised to find out just how much you've got your hands on day in and day out. Even if it's the only step you take this week towards life-proofing your business, set time aside to write this out so you can get the whole picture.
Is it 7 days, 3 days... 1 day? If you were to get the flu, need to go out of town for a distant family member's funeral, or show up for your best friend because tragedy struck her family, you'll need to be able to shift without your clients losing out on the 5-star experience you promised them at booking.
The last one was for short-term situations, but we can't completely rule out long-term or permanent absence. The upside to owning a business is making your own rules, but the downside is that you have to ask yourself what "life insurance" you have in place for your clients. If your involvement in business has to come to a halt for 6 months or forever, what processes need to be in place to minimize the impact this has on your clients?
Some businesses hire team members or contract virtual assistants to make sure their clients are being cared for in their time away, but this only really works if you are continually working with that VA, not so much if you need backup in a pinch. Other service-based businesses depend solely on Dubsado. While we'll never stop talking about how amazing it is that automation saves you time to do what you want, what matters the most is that it gives you space when you desperately need it. Having a system in place that you can trust in and depend on is critical in general, but especially in these moments you need to be away.
Now you have an idea of where you're at and where your business could use some extra cushion.
In this folder, you should have a document where you write out what needs to happen in case there is an emergency with you or an emergency you have to tend to.
→ Who handles your taxes?
→ Do you use any subcontractors? What's their contact info?
→ Will you issue refunds to clients or pay others to complete the work?
→ Do you want this appointed person to pay themselves for running your business? If so, how much and where should they transfer that from?
→ What's the plan if you're gone for 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year?
This is the instruction manual of instruction manuals and should be able to be passed off effortlessly in a pinch.
Include links to websites as well as login information, points-of-contact, credit card info for subscriptions, etc. The last thing you want to be doing in the middle of an emergency is tending to subscriptions and trying to remember your passwords.
This will detail what to do with your clients and unfinished work. Note what's being done by your Dubsado workflow and what needs to be done manually by whoever you've appointed. You'll have peace of mind knowing that everything is being executed exactly as it should be while you're away. This is much easier to put together as you go vs in the midst of sickness or emergency.
We know this isn't a small undertaking, but it's an important one. It will be beyond worth it once it's done, but don't try to get it done all in one sitting. Even if you spend just 5 minutes a day putting pieces of this together, you and your business will be better off for it. If you're not already using a workflow, make sure to check out our Dubsado workflow trainings at education.dubsado.com to get started.
Have a wonderful week!
The Dubsado Team
