Do You Have A Back-Up Plan?
September 7th, 2006 Ogbuotobo Chuks || chuks@stockmarketnigeria.com
Ogbuotobo Chuks
Planning is to success what food is to growth. However, most individuals- investors, business men and women, companies, managers and so on do not have a back-up plan, and as such, pay dearly when the unexpected happens. The purpose of this write up is to educate people and shed more light on the importance of a BACK-UP PLAN.
Definition
A back-up plan simply can be defined as the art of anticipating discrepancies or unexpected events and checkmating such occurrences by planning actions to counter them. Some people refer to this as CONTINGENCY PLAN.
Most of us are familiar with the saying that goes thus- “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” In as much as this is true, it might not really hold water for those that want to go beyond the ordinary in financial related matters. Business, as they say is all about risk, and the ability to manage such risk is mandatory for success.
The Main Issue
Most individuals think that being optimistic is enough to make giant strides in business. However, such reasoning most likely would leave a business moribund by the end of the first year.
For you to weather the storm in business, it is imperative that you have a series of other businesses that you can always fall back on in case the unforeseen happens. Most people believe that for you to have and experience financial freedom, you need to have more than one source of income. To make it easier, always ask yourself this- “if project A does not workout, what next would I do”? This mode of proactive thinking only puts your brain to work, thereby prompting it to source for answers.
A Vivid Example
Not too long ago, Nigeria experienced a period that was marred with the bird flu virus. These periods was a perilous time for most farmers as most of them experienced and are still experiencing hell. Most of them that had poultry farms probably never expected that such a plague would ravage the Nigerian agricultural sector. As such most of them also were enjoying patronage and did not deem it fit to think up any other businesses they could indulge in, should the unexpected happen.
This eventually left most of them with little or nothing as farms that had affected birds were burnt and less than half the amount of each bird was paid to them in return by the federal government. For those that had back-up plans, they simply took the money given by government and accrued profits and started other businesses.
The Lesson
The world is a dynamic place and it is only those that are in tune with recent happenings that will stay ahead. Knowing that the only permanent thing in life is change, it would only be wise and reasonable to make provision to counter the unexpected when they come knocking. What might be working today might not necessarily work tomorrow.
Why not task yourself today by making back-up plans if you are not in the habit of doing so. Always try as much as possible to put them in writing so as to not forget them. The more you look at them, the more they become a part of you.
It’s time to act …
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