As the old saying goes, "The only constant is change." Nothing drives this point home more clearly than the devastation in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The hurricanes' devastation affected thousands of businesses whose buildings were destroyed by the wind or ruined by the flood waters, or whose employees lost their lives, loved ones, or property in the storm and its aftermath.
To the best of our abilities, we must prepare for change, or be swept away by it. The more proactive you can be in planning for change, the better your odds of surviving, and even thriving, when change occurs.
Even if your business is located far away from the areas of destruction, it will nonetheless likely feel some of those impacts. How? Most probably in the areas of increased fuel prices, transportation costs, and untold affects on your customers, vendors and suppliers.
For example:
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Increased fuel costs are some of the most visible and dramatic changes to affect businesses. If your business uses petroleum products to fuel company vehicles or machinery, you're already aware of an immediate increase in this expense. Questions you need to ask about this include:
- How much more per month are we paying for fuel?
- How will this affect our profitability?
- Can we pass any of these increases along to our customers in the form of price increases and surcharges?
- Are we making the most efficient use of the fuel we buy?
- If we make deliveries, do we need to change our delivery scheduling and routing?
- Do we need to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles?
- How will these increases affect our employees' ability to commute to work?
- How will these increases affect field personnel who use company or personal vehicles for work (salespeople, delivery drivers, service techs, etc.)?
- How will these increases affect our budget for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning of our building(s)?
- What other strategies could we use to protect against future fuel price increases?
- Following closely behind fuel costs will be increases in any transportation-related activities. You can expect major shippers like UPS, FedEx, trucking companies, and airlines to respond with price increases. How will these increases affect your business? What will you do to prepare for these increases?
- Some of your customers may live in the zones of damage. How many of them are there? What are you doing to reach out to your customers in the affected areas? How can you help them get back on their feet?
- Your suppliers and vendors may have facilities in the damaged areas. Some of their suppliers may be directly affected. How will this affect your ability to get vital supplies and materials? How long will your suppliers be out of action? What is your plan to find alternate sources?
Use these questions to take your thinking to a higher level. What other changes might affect your business and your industry? You need to think in terms of opportunities, and of threats. How will you position your business to maximize your opportunities and guard against potential threats? How can you serve more customers at a lower cost? Taking some time each day and each week to think about these kinds of questions is the true work of the Entrepreneur. Make it a priority to PRACTICE the entrepreneurial art of asking questions and finding better and better answers.
Customers, markets, laws, and your competitors WILL change, and it is best to proactively clarify your contingency plans ahead of time so that you'll be ready when the inevitable changes do occur.
