With monsoon season looming in Arizona it got me to thinking about how a business weathers storms – both literally and figuratively. If you have a physical business location a storm could knock out the electricity or the building could flood and damage your office equipment as well as your inventory. If you run a virtual business – like my virtual accounting service – you also need to worry about electricity to operate the computers and Internet service to link us together, but we don’t have to worry about paper storage because we are virtually paper-free! 

In a non-tangible way, how does your business weather storms? If you find yourself getting knocked off course it could be because you haven’t planned for stormy weather. Here are some steps you can take today to help you stay on course:

• Understand that all businesses have cycles; sometimes they go up, sometimes they go down.
• Have a clear business vision. It’s easy to go on different directions if you’re not clear about your goals.
• Have a strong team in place that understands your business vision and mission and is committed to helping you achieve it.
• Have a strong support system of other business owners who can serve as a sounding board.
• Have a mentor to help you keep focused and “keep your head on straight”!
• Journal about your problems. There is something about writing that opens up creativity paths and lets you see your challenges and options differently.

Have you weathered a storm? How did you do it? Are you ready to weather a storm? You can be sure one will come – sometime! Be ready!!