So, I’ve talked for the past few weeks about some of the challenges facing freelance writers when it comes to disaster recover. I broke down the various dangers facing a freelance writing business into three distinct categories:
I’ve also talked about some of the things you can do to prepare for a disaster, from creating a data backup system to more effective management of your contacts and projects. If you follow the advice in those posts, you’ll give your business a good chance of surviving all but the most horrific disasters.
Today, I want to leave you with a few overriding principles to keep in mind while you’re making those preparations:
1. You can’t prepare for every disaster
There are situations you can’t anticipate. Disaster recovery is about looking at possibilities. You want to cover yourself for those situations that are most likely to occur and for those that do the most damage. You could spend years trying to identify every problem area and a solution. Don’t. You have more important things to do.
2. Learn risk assessment
In the business world, there’s an idea known as “risk assessment” that can help you when it comes to disaster recovery for your freelance business. Risk assessment is a process whereby you examine the likelihood of an event (such as a disaster), the impact of that event, and what it would take to prevent or recover from that event.
Unlikely events that don’t have a huge impact and wouldn’t take much to recover from should be identified, but not necessarily addressed. An event that is likely to happen that could completely destroy your business and can be prepared for with relative ease – that should be addressed.
Risk assessment is as much an art as it is a science, and you can’t be expected to master it right away. Still, you need to be aware of the formula and put it into practice.
3. Ignore disaster recovery at your own peril
Disaster recovery isn’t a flashy topic, I know that. But being able to pick up the pieces in rapid fashion after a disaster will do more for the long-term success of your freelance writing business than saving a few bucks at tax time. Don’t assume your business is safe just because nothing bad has happened yet, and don’t put all of your eggs into any one basket, whether it’s an Internet Service Provider, your laptop computer or a single client.
Be diligent, take the time to address the possibility of disaster, make some basic preparations and you’ll save yourself plenty of trouble in the long run.
