# How to handle personal crisis as a small-business owner



## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

I like to keep a financial cushion in the business account in case of a personal crisis. The last two months have wiped that cushion out and now I'm working to build it back.

Two cases of the flu, a stomach virus and the death of my younger cousin a few days ago is just about enough to make me want to throw in the towel. I had to cancel a huge selling opportunity this past weekend and put my cookbook on hold for another week.

Am I giving up? Heck no! I've seen too many business owners fold at the first signs of pressure and I love what I do. Maybe it's bad business sense to let ilness and personal issues affect business decisions, but I started this business with the intentions of having a flexible schedule to deal with family needs.

How do you deal with crisis?

Maggie


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

My business can pretty much go on without my daily personal attention, but I do realize that I'm blessed with that. Rental properties just rock along, and if there's a repair problem, I can pay someone to do the job if I'm not available that day.

We've had a grandson with cancer, and I just packed up and went to help. Hubby kept working at his job, and I was the only grandparent with the flexibility to go when there was need.

I highly recommend getting all your regular bills on auto-pay. Knowing I didn't have to deal with bills piling up while I was gone was a blessing.

Make friends with your postmaster. Mine makes piles of the mail and sends me the first class stuff once a week where ever I am.

Make friends with the local lawn mowing person and pay them well for looking after your home if you are gone.

Get an alarm system for your house that includes a fire alarm. It's just a good idea to prevent worries, and it's deductible as a business expense.

If you have important things scheduled when the crisis arises, call those parties immediately and re-schedule or postpone. Most folks are understanding and will wait.


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## bigmudder77 (Jun 9, 2008)

i had the flu and now ive got a cold it didnt stop me from doing what i gotta do to make money. it was harder but when the bills are due they are DUE and you gotta have that money or you go under. 

i part out cars, bikes, 4 wheelers, what ever and its kinda hard work and when your sick its hard to keep up with stuff but i just push throw it 

i lived on a farm most of my life and i seen my dad and uncle out there working when they were sick and i guess thats where i got it from 

i got in a really bad car accident and the next day i was back out there working on getting parts off and shipped out. i didnt break any bones but i was sore for like 2 weeks and had tons of bruses and a ripped up hand 

good luck on getting better


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## PamB (Jan 15, 2008)

You really need that cushion and I hope you can get it built back up. It is hard when you work for yourself sometimes. But you have to just keep on going. I remember having the flu and having to sit down on a bale of straw in between feeding animals, but you do what has to be done. I am glad to see you are not giving up! Sometimes you have to take a break and then get back at it. I can be pretty flexible most of the day with my off farm job (feeding calves on a large dairy) only taking a few hours morning and afternoons. So I can take off during the middle of the day to deal with any other things that may pop up. 
Hang in there!
Pam


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

I wish I had something better but honestly you just have to keep doing it, even when your world is crumbing. My BIL died on Christmas Eve last year and I can't even tell you the toll it has taken on our family. My sister (whose husband passed) and I share a business. When I got an order the week after he died I tried to call and just broke down. The were very nice but I realized I needed my husband to make any calls. I then did the work. What else could I do? I will be thinking you.


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## Jen H (Jun 16, 2004)

The store needs to run 7-days a week. For that business, my manager can make all the buying decisions I do, she can handle the deposits, she can make decisions about scheduling employees and hiring / firing. That leaves me with just paying the bills, and I can do that from my bedside if I have to. (most of my suppliers offer net 30 terms, so that probably wouldn't be necessary)

With the soap... I make sure I have backstock. When I tore a ligament in my knee and *couldn't* make the soap and salves I relied on that backstock. When people asked for something I didn't have made, I told them it would be about a month's wait for that scent, and recommended other, similar, scents that I did have ready to go. It worked out ok.

I have these backups in place, but honestly, I have to be knocking on death's door to not drag myself in. Having my manager handle *everything* at the store would be horribly expensive, and not something the store can really afford. I take days off here and there to deal with family stuff, but I make sure the things I'm specifically responsible for get done. If my knee had taken longer to heal, I would have re-jiggered my soaping space so that I could still turn out batches. I'm actually re-jiggering that space anyway to make the soaping physically easier because I need to be able to turn out product no matter what injury is going on.

That's the hardest part about running a business. There is no time off. There are no days when I'm not on call, or thinking about work, or making calls for work. Sure, I can schedule time away and days when I need to be elsewhere, but that just means I'm burning the midnight oil getting my work done.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Kind of an indirect answer to your question. I try to get to the point where my business can handle 3 major disasters at a time and stay in business. For some reason, problems tend to come in bunches. If you plan for three, the first problem isn't that big a deal. 

In my last business, I got hit by about 10 (at least it seemed that way) and I was able to sell the business before the market completely collapsed. But since I was prepared for 3 concurrent problems, I had time to position my company so it could be sold.

The first 2 problems that hit my business were the bursting of the Internet Bubble and 9/11. I owned a computer training company and these 2 events reduced business by over 70% in a short period of time. Then things got really bad. Almost all my competitors were forced into bankruptcy. I still had the same fixed costs but with only a fraction of the revenue. Worst experience of my life.


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

Maggie

Funny you should mention 9/11 Moon River.

I have been in business since 1998. I've built up a cushion to live off, pay business bills and what emergencies may come up. I am a computer based business.

On 9/11 the phone just stopped ringing. I mean literally. Never having run a business before, I was in a panic. I'm used to having something to do 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

It seemed like two months went by before the phone started ringing again but I kept busy doing upgrades to my systems and other housekeeping things that kinda got sidelined.

I always kept my people busy and made sure they could eat.

We used up some of our buffer but since then was able to build it back up.

Today, we have noticed a large decrease in calls. Not to the extent of 9/11 but very noticeable. I think it is due to the current markets and how my customers are effected by it. People are scared and they are not spending money. So.... here we go again.

We have gone back to the original Plan A, taking jobs that we normally wouldn't do now like working on home / personal computers, building websites and stuff like that just to keep a cash flow.

I'm not the sharpest tack in the box when it comes to running a business. I've always worked for Govt. and got a paycheck on Fridays whether I did anything or not so it was a different mindset. You learn to make do with what you have and NEVER give up. If there are mind numbing events happening in your life, sometimes it is a good idea to throw that bit of energy into work to keep your mind active.

Just giving up and sitting around stewing about things is not good for your business or for you.

Just my thoughts.

Lee


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

lharvey said:


> On 9/11 the phone just stopped ringing. I mean literally. Lee


In this type of economy, your so called partners also start going after your customers. I was an authorized partner with Microsoft and Novell, but when things got tough they started going after my customers directly. Product cycles also slow down. For example, Apple and Microsoft may delay new operating systems and product updates since the market for computers has slowed down. Companies put off upgrades and layoff employees, further decreasing demand.

I keep trying to find the opportunities in this market, and unfortunately, I think we are in a market where fear sells. Can you sell a service that alleviates people's fears?


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