Note:
This article is an excerpt from my Entrepreneur's Survival
Reference E-Book Self-Help Manual titled "25 Avoidable
Mistakes No One Will Warn You About In Starting Your Own Business"(in
which "Failing To Prepare A Backup/Alternative Action"
is one of the 25 mistakes discussed). As a result, you will
find that illustrations used are more relevant to persons
starting up their businesses. Having said that, the ideas
proferred here can be easily adapted for use in any other
business situation.
Do You Have Backup/Alternative
Action Plans For When Your Business Suffers Unexpected Setbacks?
"One
way to succeed is to work hard at not failing by always anticipating
problems before they occur" – Peter Drucker
Certain successful entrepreneurs are
reputed to be uncomfortable with "good times" i.e.
when everything appears to be going "smoothly".
According to one book I have read, these individuals formed
this habit as a result of past experiences, when such "good
times" in their businesses were followed by a string
of unexpected setbacks. Their experiences apparently "trained
them" to be sensitive to unseen but possibly impending
problems or "danger". During "good times"
therefore, instead of relaxing and celebrating, they quickly
develop/implement strategies aimed at addressing the problems
they anticipate or fears they have.
Having Back Up Plans Can Help
You Reduce Your Frequency Of Failure
Having back up plans will not guarantee
you absence of failure. But it can ensure that you reduce
the frequency of your failures, and/or don’t record
avoidable failures. In addition, the back up plans will enable
you bounce back quickly from your setbacks. And that is of
utmost importance. As most of us must have heard at one time
or the other, it’s not falling down that matters. But
being able to get up and keep going every time you fall down
is what really matters. Backup plans will enable you do this
much more easily, effectively and frequently.
Developing back up plans will help you
prepare to deal with any suggestions of delays, disappointments
or failures that might occur. It will make it easier for you
to keep a positive outlook when things appear not to be going
well – because you will be confident in the knowledge
that you have an alternative plan(s) already in place.
How To Develop A Backup Plan
So how do you draw up your plan? Simple
really. Just ask yourself questions. Imagine you are not you.
(It’s easier than you think, I assure you). Just try
and imagine that you’re one of those “nay-sayers”
or unbelieving people who question your sanity, possibly because
they do not understand your business idea. Then proceed to
generate the kinds of questions(or reasons/arguments) you
think they would come up with, to prove that what you want
to do cannot be done.
It might not be a bad idea to actually
approach these individuals with the objective of deliberately
getting them to discuss their thoughts about your ideas with
you. Be smart about it. Make it look natural – start
a conversation and gradually steer it to the subject you want
them to comment upon.
Very often I have found people like this
especially eager, and they relish the opportunity to tell
you why they are right and you are wrong to try doing it the
way you intend. Never mind all that, just "record"
all you can and then withdraw to generate action plans that
will help you effectively ensure that those reasons they’ve
given/questions they’ve raised, can be effectively addressed
through the action plan you will develop.
Next, decide on the order in which you
will implement items in the action plan you have come up with.
Then commence doing so. As things progress, depending on your
judgment of whether or not the plan you are working is doing
well, you can then initiate implementation of other plans.
You will find that some of your plans will require you to
seek assistance of certain individuals at short notice. If
possible plan ahead and hint them that you might need them.
Members of your mastermind alliance(especially those who do
NOT take setbacks or problems too seriously) could prove useful
in these circumstances.
How Having A Backup Plan Helped
Me Win A Speaking Invitation
When I first started out in business
in early 2002, I had just finished writing my latest management
research paper titled “Self-Development As A Tool For
Achieving Career Advancement(A Practical Guide Based On Experience)”.
I recall vividly that after reading through my work on that
paper, I repeatedly told my wife, brother, friends –
and all who cared to listen – that I believed it was
my best work so far. I also told them I was convinced I could
win the next Nigerian Institute of Management’s (NIM’s)
Young Manager’s competition (I had placed fifth in the
National Finals on my debut in 1997).
So I began making enquiries about the
competition, but was told the programme was not yet out. Something
however began pushing me to make alternative plans to get
my paper in front of the leaders of thought in management
who I believed would be able to give me useful feedback. One
evening I sat down and began writing down the names of organisations/individuals
who I felt would be able to give me authentic and useful criticisms.
People like Dr. J. Y Maiyaki, Director General of Center for
Management Development, and many others.
I prepared letters to each of these people,
and hand delivered them with a copy of the neatly spiral bound
paper to their offices. My objective was to use that paper
to draw attention to myself with respect to my work on Self-Development
Education. That was between January and late February 2002.
Some months later it became obvious that
the NIM competition would not hold, so I was glad I had implemented
my other plans. But not as glad as I was when in August 2002,
I got a visit from the Training Manager of the Center for
Management Development (CMD) who wanted to know if I could
meet with them for a discussion, towards leading their September
2002 staff seminar by delivering my paper on Self-Development
Education at their main auditorium.
After about 3 meetings, agreements on
honorarium to be paid, event date and time, etc were reached,
and on Wednesday 25th September 2002, I successfully delivered
a one-hour talk to an audience of over 100 persons including
directors and other staff, in the CMD’s main auditorium.
(Read my article titled "I Flopped
Badly At The National Finals!(A True Story About How NOT To
Prepare For/Deliver An Important Presentation)" to learn
more how I used learnings from a botched presentation during
the 1997 NIM national competition - that took place 5 years
BEFORE - to successfully deliver my presentation at the CMD's
Staff Seminar in 2002 without a hitch, despite a potentially
destabilizing power failure occurrence).
Summary
Aside from positive verbal and written
feebdack(I got back over 80 of the speaker evaluation forms
I circulated to the audience, with an average rating of 4
- on a scale of 1[poor] to 5[excellent]) the CMD also sent
me a letter of appreciation some weeks later. I actively used
this successful CMD outing to gain credibilty before other
decision makers including: a Management Consultant who would
later invite me as a paid External Speaker to deliver a paper
I titled "Interpersonal Effectiveness(A Real-World Relevant
Approach") - based on my experiences in paid employment
- to management trainees just recruited into a leading fast
foods company located in Lagos.
Did I achieve my objective of getting
myself and my work noticed/acknowledged by leaders of thought
in my niche or area? Yes I did. But I had to pro-actively
develop(based on actively observing trends of events, and
considering their possible implications) and implement an
alternative plan in place of the one I had originally started
out with. Be prepared to do that when(NOT if) the need arises.
|
