It was a Monday morning like any other.
I woke up at 7, exercised (you don’t look this good by accident), ate breakfast, and arrived at my office around 10.
Nothing unusual. Although… I did notice it was kind of windy (uh oh).
Sure enough, three hours later, when I walked out to the parking lot to drive home for lunch, I found my car crushed (and totaled) beneath a fallen tree.
I don’t mind telling you, I was kind of heartbroken.
Not, “I wish Taylor Swift was still country” heartbroken. But unhappy, nonetheless. The car – an all-electric Chevy Bolt – was less than two years old and didn’t have a scratch on it.
I think part of the reason it threw me so much was because it was such a fluke: there was only one car in the lot (mine) and only one tree that had fallen.
I’m not sure I believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, but if there is such an entity, she’s got some pretty good aim.
Expect the Unexpected
Sometimes in life, that’s just how it goes. Through no fault of your own, unexpected bad things happen.
Fortunately, like most people, I had auto insurance. And while the settlement won’t buy me a replacement, it gets me a long way there.
Which brings me to your business…
Here as well, unexpected bad things happen – and not because you did or didn’t do the right thing.
It’s just that once in a while, like a new movie starring Nicolas Cage, they appear without warning and can ruin your day.
The problem is that in these business-related instances, when I ask people what type of “insurance” they have in place, often, the answer is “not much.”
With that in mind, here are four areas worth paying attention to when it comes to taking precautions against business-related “acts of nature.”
#1. Your Data.
Long ago (20 years?), I remember chatting with the owner of a data recovery service at a local networking event.
I asked him what mattered most in backing up data. He highlighted three things I’ve never forgotten:
It needs to be automatic, it needs to happen daily, the data needs to leave the building (in case of fire or whatever).
Over the years I’ve used Carbonite, Dropbox, and a portable Seagate hard drive (usually all three in combination) to limit my exposure to lost or corrupted data. If something goes wrong, I know how to quickly get it back.
(P.S. It’s a good idea to occasionally go through the process of recovering your data from wherever you store it, to make sure you are actually backing up what you think you are backing up.)
#2. Your Equipment.
Protecting the data is important. But you need something on which to run it.
That’s part of the reason I have two computers: a desktop in my office and a laptop I take back and forth between home and work. Data-wise, they are identical.
This way, in case one of those machines is lost, stolen, or crushed by Nicolas Cage, I can jump on the other one without missing a beat.
How long would you be out of business if something should happen to your one and only computer?
#3. Your Platform.
A couple of years ago, I woke up to find several warning messages from Facebook alerting me about suspicious activity on my account and telling me I needed to take immediate action.
Unfortunately, by the time I read the messages, the fine folks at Facebook had already taken steps to shut me down. Permanently. No explanation, nobody to contact, no way to recover any of the connections, posts, or information.
Fortunately, I was hardly using Facebook anymore, so it wasn’t painful to just start again with a new profile. But what if I had a business that depended on it?
That’s just one example. To whatever extent you are relying on a public platform (especially a free one) for your business – Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc. – you are at risk. It’s one reason I prefer having everything that matters live on my own web site.
And while you may not be able to find a better alternative to these services or mitigate all the risk associated with them, it’s worth thinking about what you would do if one day you woke up and everything you had built there was gone.
#4. Your Access.
Hopefully, you’ve got a system in place for securely managing all the user names and passwords associated with your business. (I use 1Password.)
But that’s not everything.
For things like your web site(s), custom domains (businessname.com), associated email accounts, bill payment systems, and more, there’s a good chance someone other than you is managing all that on your behalf.
That’s fine. But what if that person suddenly becomes unavailable? (My parking lot is not the only place with falling trees.)
Should that happen, you’ll want quick and easy access to all the passwords, URLs, and assorted information associated with those accounts so you can hand it off to another professional.
While these kinds of things may not cause an immediate problem, if “the person who knows how everything works” disappears without warning, you’re going to have a big project on your hands finding all the pieces.
Better to begin now (for starters, ask that knows-everything-person to document all the details and give them to you) than to wait for the next tree to fall.
Here’s the Bottom Line
The good thing about these types of quasi-catastrophic events, whether in our business or personal lives, is they don’t tend to happen very often.
The bad thing is, when they do, they can really set you back.
And believe me, the only thing worse than a tree falling on your car, is a tree falling on your uninsured car.
Discussion Questions:
- What time do you wake up in the morning?
- What’s the best Nicolas Cage movie you’ve ever seen?
- What “business insurance” advice do you have for others?
Share your answers below…
I’m so sorry about the car – that’s unfortunate. Bummer. But, your post, as always, is spot on – we all have to expect the unexpected. Hope you find the perfect replacement.
Thanks M2! I did, actually, find a new version of the same car (used, they dont make them anymore).
Are you buying another EV? Cage movies I liked: Both National Treasure movies, The Rock, and Knowing.
Definitely on the EV! Hard to go back once you’ve driving one of those. Re Nicolas Cage, I liked the quirky Matchstick Men from several years back!
I trust Carbonite and Cloud but ought to be more diligent about checking on it, after reading this post.
As for Nicholas Cage, I lived a block from the Facebook mother ship in Menlo Park, CA for five years. They allowed the neighbors to tour the company (as long as we averted our eyes from the computers). The conference rooms that we passed on the tour were all named after various Nicholas Cage movies, none of which I had seen, so the reference was lost on me.
I’d say you were quite lucky to have not been sitting in your car that day! Surrounded by trees here in the PNW, I’ve heard lots of stories of trees falling on people’s cars and homes. Glad you’re safe.
Yes, definitely lucky to not have been in the car!
Raising Arizona
A movie about hope within chaos. If you mean well toward others… it goes a long way to getting you the help you need.
I wake up at 7 am and distribute my data… but not my passwords. Catch me if you can!
Totally forgot about Raising Arizona!
Moonstruck.
Right! Forgot about that one too. And i always thought Cher never got enough credit as an actor.
My answer to #2 is easy — “Raising Arizona.”
That was the first Nicolas Cage movie I’d seen. Really enjoyed it coz of the focus on the obsession he & his wife had about getting a child. I was going thru that experience in my own life … without the kidnapping part, of course!!
Like someone else said in the comments — the movie has a message of hope at the end.
I, too, also… as well, use a deskop in the office and have a laptop (lovingly named Road Warrior 3 since it’s my third one). I also have Office installed on my smartypants phone, just in case.
And both my phone and car (a 2023 RAV4) have WiFi enabled for those times where Internet may be sketchy or non exisitant (although McDonalds usually has it, too). Or the local Library..).
I use Coffee Cup Software’s LockBox 6 for password storage and generation.
Though it often gets a bad rap, Microsoft OneDrive is my go-to for storage and back up.
As for tree protection, I keep my ’93 Ford Pickup parked next to the RAV4. It’s built like a tank and has suffered many blows through the years, but still runs. 🙂
Sounds like you’ve got things well covered, Steve!
I admit, I know who is Nicolas Cage, but I haven’t seen any of his movies (or maybe I have but have completely forgotten them).
I’m up at 5:00 AM each day. I do many of the same business insurance practices as you. My piece of “business insurance” advice is to take care of your health first.
Good advice on staying healthy!
Great blog!
1) Our alarm clock goes off at 6:00 am but I’m usually awake between 4 and 5, worrying about this or that. (“Old guys do that,” I’m told. :-))
2) I’ve certainly not seen all of Cage’s movies but I did like “Moonstruck.” Superb ending! Told a friend it was the only Cher movie I saw that didn’t embarrass me. Friend said, “A complement, I guess.”
3) One winter in 2004, I was late and hurrying to work when, before I needed to go down a hill, the car ahead of me stopped, blocking my path. I privately cursed the driver and went around him, only to find out I was rapidly going downhill on a sheet of ice the weather folks never predicted. Before reaching an intersection where I might be killed, I steered toward a parked car where I could at least stop and survive. Days later, when Toyota came out to view my car, they said the front was too smashed to merit any payment. (The driver of the car I hit immediately got out, not seeming to mind I smashed her rear. I’m guessing she was uncovered.) See my picture on my LI Profile!