Business Continuity Plan

I’m well into my second week of “Staying at Home”.  My husband and I started a bit earlier than many because we are in that high-risk category.

How about you?  Are you in the “Staying at Home” group?

I will have to admit, it is odd just hanging out, knowing we must stay home.

It has also been interesting; interesting to see how we adapt and what we are doing.

Be Prepared

Like many, we became accustomed to eating out often, so my meal planning and cooking skills were a little rusty, but they have come back quickly.

Of course, one needs to have cooking supplies on hand in order to cook!

I was a Girl Scout when I was younger and the ol’ “Be Prepared” motto has been a core principle of my life. 

Now there is prepared and then there is PREPARED!

When things with this virus started to become a conversation in late February and the possibility of a two week confinement became a real possibility, I started to think ahead a bit – do a bit of contingency planning.

So rather than have a two meal supply on hand, I started to think about what was needed for a week or a two week supply.  Now I’m not talking a hording supply, I’m talking a sensible stock.

I figured it couldn’t hurt.  The worst that happens, I didn’t have to grocery shop for a while!  But that planning and stocking was important – I had somethings such as toilet paper, that disappeared off store shelves.

I remember, when I was growing up, watching what my Mother did.  She and my father both grew up during the Great Depression and it colored how they lived their lives in many ways.

The things that I thought were idiosyncrasies when I was growing up, that I would NEVER do when I was an adult, I started to see in a new light.

That training included how to approach meal planning and grocery shopping.

It started with a written list of possible meals for 10 days to two weeks.  Then it became a shopping list.  It helped me to remember everything I needed and didn’t necessarily just impulse buy.  Those interesting habits of my mother started to make sense.

Save Money by Eating at Home

Ok, I will admit, before this craziness hit, we were starting to look at eating at home more, just to save money.  So, I was already starting to think about some of this stuff. 

But the real urgency hit when being quarantined for 2 weeks became a real possibility.

When things started to get more real about the pandemic were you prepared to stay at home for two weeks?  Did you look at what you needed to have on hand, besides toilet paper and hand sanitizer?

Opportunities in Abundance

What I’ve realized is this had become an opportunity for doing a lot of things – besides being a giant pain and a huge restriction on my life.

The opportunities started to look like:

• Doing more healthy eating.
• Spending less on food.
• Making cooking a family social event.
• Spending quality time as a family.

What opportunities do you see?  Share some of those with us in the Facebook Group “Money Talks with Sheri” , about other opportunities you are discovering out of this “Stay at Home” time.

Emergency Planning – Family and Business

Did you have a family emergency plan in place? 

Here in California, I grew up with the background conversations of Earthquake Preparedness.  Some of you may have had similar conversations about tornados, snowstorms or hurricanes.

But did you ever implement a family emergency plan?

You know the one that has extra food, water, first aid kit, alternative power and a communication plan.  Not only at home but for your car.

I know I gave it a lick and a promise.  I had bits and pieces of it around.  But certainly not a two weeks focused plan!

Did you have a business continuity plan for your business?  If no, are you taking notes on the things that you have been doing on the fly?  So, after this is over, you can put both a Personal Preparedness and a Business Continuity Plan in place.

Support Social Distancing – Go Online

How are you doing with moving smoothly online?  With socializing and staying connected while maintaining a “Social Distance”?  I know, it isn’t our nature to socially distance, but practice makes us better at it (not necessarily perfect)!

I find myself reaching out more in ways I hadn’t before: calling rather than texting; video conferencing rather than calling.  Stepping up a notch making contact.

My Toastmaster Club moved online, rather than go dark.  At our online meeting, it was wonderful to see the faces of people that I had grown accustomed to spending time with.  It helped to make things feel like regular life.

Social contact is important for us as social beings.  “Social Distancing” for health and safety doesn’t need to mean the end of social contact.

Get creative.  Reach out.  Instead of texting, call.  Instead of calling, video conference.  Reach out and be in contact with others.  “Stay at Home” doesn’t need to mean isolation.

When you are in the Facebook Group, (just click on this link) while you sharing about the opportunities that you see, drop a word or two about how you are staying in contact, staying connected!

If you haven’t joined the Facebook Group yet, just click this link and join us in the group.

This time at home is an opportunity to build new skills, to continue to stay in contact and enhance your business. 

I’d heard or read somewhere, the preoccupation with social media and the smartphone, that once had seemed to be the end of social interaction, may be the vehicle that saves us during this challenging time.

Stay safe.  Stay connected!

Ciao and hugs,

Sheri