Wislounge

Thoughts and opinions on web development

  • Home
  • About
  • Topics

How Do You Prepare Your Business for Disaster?

September 28, 2009 By J. Angelo Racoma

HurricaneDisaster strikes anytime. Sometimes, you can anticipate it. Sometimes, there’s no notice whatsoever, and you get caught off-guard.

Just this weekend, a tropical storm hit my country, bringing in a month’s worth of rainwater in just half a day. This resulted to flash flooding, which submerged 75% of the capital in flood waters. That’s 75% of about 20 million people in the metro and its surrounding areas. While the drainage systems here leave much to be desired, this level of calamity and damage has not before been seen. Towns that are relatively high saw flooding on the streets. Those in the flatlands, valleys and residences near bodies of water were not too lucky. Many endured getting their houses fully submerged underwater (yes, even two to three storey homes). Some lives were lost; a lot were displaced.

In cases like these, small businesses would surely be facing trouble. What if you had a store or shop, and all your inventory was spoiled? What if you were into building, and your equipment was destroyed? What if you’re in the transportation business, and all your vehicles were submerged and carried away in the current? These are typical in a brick and mortar type of business.

How about online businesses, then? Does calamity have a place in today’s connected world?

In my case, I lost my Internet connection for a span of a day and a half. I did not lose electricity at my home (which also houses my office and equipment). But with the loss of connectivity, I wasn’t able to respond to messages, talk to clients, meet deadlines, and the like. It’s a good thing that a big part of my online activities involves teamwork. Thus, while some of my colleagues are also residents of areas probably hit by calamity, some are living in other countries altogether. People across the globe can share the load, then.

With one’s business being mostly virtual, one would probably think himself invulnerable to storm, fire or whatever natural disaster will strike. On the contrary, though, even if your business is purely online, you would most likely be affected one way or another.

First is when your equipment or business premise gets damaged or affected. When Hurricane Ike devastated the Americas in 2008, some of the US-based datacenters we’ve been using were affected. Or at least the support personnel that manned the hosting company were all unavailable for inquiries and reports.

Second is when your communications infrastructure fails. This has been my experience time and again. One instance was when a storm hit about three years ago. We lost power for almost a week, and I had to rely on visiting WiFi-enabled establishments just to do some work. And apart from my weekend hiatus, just a few months back, underground Internet cables had been severed, resulting in loss of connectivity to a big part of the Asia-Pacific region.

Third is when you and your staff/colleagues are at risk. Calamities often don’t just pose risks to property. Rather–and more importantly–it involves risk to life and limb. Property damage is probably acceptable, but when you and your family are faced with life-threatening situations, then it becomes more serious. Even if you have to attend to business matters, you’d rather just take time off, and bring yourself and your family to safer ground. The lost productivity is just a small price to pay for safety!

In any eventuality, it pays to be prepared, and to make arrangements beforehand such that you minimize (or mitigate) risk, and have a backup plan for everything. For an online business, or even any business in which data or internet connectivity is an integral part of operations, here are a few things I can think of as part of one’s contingency plans.

  • Backup your data and store these in multiple places. Be sure to keep copies of your important data in safe places. Best if you have these in a format that’s not easily destroyed, such as by magnetism, shocks and breakage. If you have really sensitive information, you can store these in different servers across the world. Or in the case of server-intensive services, you can distribute the load across the globe. Suddenly, cloud hosting sounds like a good idea.
  • Have a backup connectivity plan. Most online professionals probably rely on broadband internet connection at home or the office. Most would have some form of backup plan, like a 3G-enabled mobile phone, a secondary connection, or even a dial-up account. It’s best to have at least two ways to connect, so if one fails, you have others as backup. Even if a mobile connection can be really slow, it’s still a good way to communicate with colleagues and clients, so you could explain your situation.
  • Offer help. Not everyone gets into major trouble during calamities. If you’re fortunate enough not to have been badly hit, it would only make sense to help others in whatever way you can. In terms of business and marketing, this generates goodwill. But of course, it also generates that warm, fuzzy feeling inside of you, knowing you’ve helped others in time of need. And knowing that after a disaster itself will come rescue, relief and rehabilitation activities, perhaps you could also help raise money for a good cause.

Disasters are usually a time when competitive barriers are let down and everyone tries to pitch in to help. Any business, even if it’s not rooted too much on physical infrastructure, would surely be affected one way or another. Are you ready for this?

image source: flickr/alpoma

Filed Under: General

Trust vs. Track Record

September 20, 2009 By J. Angelo Racoma

Money

Would you rather do business with someone you personally know, or with someone whom you know is a proven entrepreneur?

This was one of the questions in an entrepreneurship questionnaire that a friend (and prospective business partner) gave me a few years back. I answered the former. Surprisingly, I was wrong. It turned out it was supposedly better to do business with someone who has a proven track record rather than someone whom you simply trusted and knew personally. Looking back, I think this concept is valid to some extent, but it’s also has its shortcomings.

Business can strain personal relationships. At one point or another, I’ve joined up with a family member or relative in some small business (mostly online ventures). And whenever we faced problems with our enterprise, it took a toll on our interpersonal relationships. This is true especially when it comes to money matters. Sure, you can be lifelong friends, but when it comes to accounting for who gets how much, and when, it’s a whole different ballgame.

You can trust someone with your life. But perhaps it’s not always the case with money. And when you fight about business decisions, money or even small and trivial things, the trust factor tends to diminish. And once you have a hairline crack in your personal relationship, it might lead to a crumbling business enterprise, as well.

You tend to be complacent with close friends and relatives. When you’re working for your boss, your main goal is to impress him and show how well you perform. But when you’re working for a parent, a sibling, or your best friend, this might not always be the case. Friends and relatives tend to be more lenient and forgiving with each other. While a relaxed atmosphere might be conducive to creativity in some industries, it might not always be the best environment in all business enterprises. How would you feel if you hired your brother or sister as a business partner (or as a manager in a business you own) and he often just slacks on the job. See point #1 above, and you’ll know why partnering with someone you know closely might not always work.

However, going for the track record might not necessarily be all that good, especially when the trust factor is nearly zero. How sure are you that the new millionaire investor will not just leave you hanging in the air when things go sour? How sure are you that your new business partner is trustworthy when it comes to finances and the legal aspects of your business?

A good business relationship is built on trust. Many people I know forego the usual contract signing and agreements when they start new business ventures. To some entrepreneurs, a handshake is as good as a contract. Verbal communication is as good as black and white. This is where a proven entrepreneur, but a stranger, might not be the best fit. You need someone whom you could trust, but who also has the right attitude and mindset for business.

So I ask you, would you go for trust of track record?

I’d go for both.

Image credit: Flickr/quazie

Filed Under: General Tagged With: business, Entrepreneurship, family business, trust

How Focused Are You In Your Business Endeavors?

September 15, 2009 By J. Angelo Racoma

BinocularsNew media mavens would have you believe in the concept of the Long Tail as a religion. It’s no longer just the big things that matter. But those little things on the fringes, when aggregated, add up to a big thing. A lot of online entrepreneurs subscribe to this ideal. You set up several small sites or services, and try to market and monetize each of these. This is one model in network blogging. You try to run blogs in different niches.

However, it turns out that not each and every one of these can be as successful as you intend them to be. With blogs and web apps, branding matters. Usage statistics matter. Word of mouth matters. Community matters. Not everyone will make the grade. Sometimes you might have one or two sites that grow to be popular reads, and possibly high-earners, too. The rest might not be as successful.

The question here is how focused are you in running your enterprises and endeavors? How focused should your business be? I know a lot of online entrepreneurs who are fond of buying up online properties, developing these, but end up offloading (selling, cancelling, merging) these products when they turn out to be unpopular.

To some extent, I experience this with my own ventures. Some assets turn out to be non-performing and therefore have to be offloaded. Maybe someone else can better take care of my creations, and bring them to their full potential. Maybe someone else can put in better effort and time. Maybe someone else can create better value. Or in some cases, one would have to contend with the fact that some ideas are just not workable–at least at the present time.

My point here is that sometimes we are burdened with a lot of things in the fringes that we tend to forget the focus of our business. When things are hectic and busy, take a while to think. what is the core of your business? Are you keeping faithful to that core ideal or core thrust? How much of your effort are you focusing on this particular goal? And are those little things on the fringes working to complement this central ideal, or are these just taking your precious time away little by little?

For all you know, the long tail effect can also work the other way around. Rather than small benefits adding up, it could be small costs adding up to a big headache.

Keep focused. Keep the faith.

Image source: flickr/gerlos

Filed Under: General Tagged With: business, ideas, productivity

Is Twitter a Complete Waste of Time?

September 11, 2009 By admin

Typing on keyboardWhen I was working in the corporate world, I had to scold myself whenever I had the urge to blog during office hours. Sure, writing was my passion and my hobby. But of course, doing this on company time would be tantamount to stealing! That was until I found myself shifting jobs, in which my new job actually involved blogging. Not only was I authorized to blog on the job, but it was also my main responsibility to get the word about the company’s products and services through blogging and word of mouth.

Now blogging doesn’t sound like a complete waste of time, does it? My blogging during company time helped me on two fronts. First, I helped publicize the company’s services. No, I was actually evangelizing, and not just publicizing, since I was so passionate about the technology (at least back then). Also, it paved the way for me to become better known in the blogosphere as among the first people in my country to make a living out of blogs and blogging.

Now does the same hold with Twitter?

A lot of “internet marketers” are taking Twitter by storm, but a lot of people are still getting it wrong. Twitter is not about blatantly blasting messages to thousands of people. It’s not about getting the most number of followers. It’s about genuinely connecting with people in a forum where they are comfortable. Now in that regard, Twitter is not a waste of time, but instead something that you can productive with.

In my case, I find myself actually being less productive the more time I spend away from Twitter, and other online sources of discussion and information for that matter. To many, Twitter is a place where they can chat and banter. It’s a place to showcase their latest conquests, rants and raves. But to folks like me, it’s a place where I can look for hot trends, for article ideas, and even for business ideas.

So whenever I find myself having blogger’s block, one of the first things I do is check TweetDeck for new updates, links and other messages from my contacts. I also watch tweets on keywords relevant to my fields of interest. And when I post something new, I try to give it a bit of a push by tweeting a link. I don’t usually expect people to take notice of automatically-tweeted blog post announcements, and so I manually craft each headline, to make it interesting and relevant.

And so that was my long answer. My short answer is no: Twitter is not a waste of time. Yes, it does eat up a lot of my time, and most of the time it also compounds to the time I spend, dealing with the information I learn and discussions I get involved in. It keeps my mind active, my fingers twiddling on the keyboard, and in some cases, the cash register ringing!

Image credit: flickr/foxtongue

Filed Under: General Tagged With: business, Marketing, microblogging, Social Media, twitter

Why Reinvent the Wheel?

September 5, 2009 By admin

WheelDon’t you sometimes notice that a lot of tech companies are simply reinventing the wheel? Take for instance search engines. Long before Google was king, there have been several search engines that have pre-dated it (and perhaps now we can say Google has “predated” those other search engines in another sense). And even after Google took dominance in the search industry, a host of other search outfits are trying to get into the game. Some are small, but some are arguably giants in themselves. Take Microsoft, for instance.

In business, does it make sense to reinvent the wheel?

In competition, does it make sense to challenge the status quo? Can you always be the David that stares Goliath in the face, while planning to bring the giant down? Or are you not just wasting your time by entering into a sphere were someone is still dominant, and is not likely to give up top spot that easily?

For years, MySpace ruled the social networking scene. Facebook started out simply as a closed network, but when it opened to the public, along with its plethora of applications and inherent expandability, it just took off. But it’s not always the case. There are a handful of other startups that looked promising from the start. But where are they now? Think Friendster. Think Multiply. Perhaps they still serve a niche, but they probably no longer merit the same expectations as before.

Are there lost opportunities here? Did people take a wrong turn? Is this a case of reinventing the wheel, and then realizing it’s an exercise in futility?

Sure, innovation is good. But it does take timing, hard work and a bit of luck (or serendipity) before something will click. I remember working for a startup before that created blogging software that promised point-and-click ease. The idea has merits. It was advanced for its time. But in the end, the bigger, more popular services stood their ground. We tried to reinvent the wheel to make it spin better. But apparently, other people who have been reinventing their own wheels got to it faster, and did it better. And people patronized their “wheels” better.

I also remember a few startups that offered backup solutions for certain Operating Systems. But when that certain Operating System released a major version, it included a built-in online backup functionality. So this is a case of a third party software being made obsolete by an upgrade. What happens then?

My point here is that indeed there are a lot of smart teams and individuals coming up with what looks like the same thing left and right. Some will probably get funding. Some will be profitable. Some will succeed in the short term. But not everyone will be afloat one, two or five years from now. So does it still make sense to reinvent the wheel, so to speak?

My answer would be yes. Otherwise, we’d all be running our cars on wheels made of stone, figuratively and perhaps literally. Sure, not everyone succeeds in innovation. Sure, some standards just eat up others. Sure, some people lose a lot of time, money, and effort in the process of trying to make some game-changing innovations. But it’s the process that matters. It’s how we get there, and it’s the good things that come out of our collective efforts.

So, what do we do with all those web apps, blogs, or ideas that will likely fizzle out in a few months’ or years’ time? I say we enjoy the fact that we have choices, and that we have new things every now and then.

Image credit: flickr/charliedees

Filed Under: General Tagged With: development, evolution, software, web apps

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • Next Page »

Categories

  • General

Copyright © 2022 Wislounge · Log in