Thinking about what's around the corner - a lesson in disaster planning

Am I paranoid? Do I look at running a business through a glass half empty approach? I sure do.

I think it’s a result of my experience in ad sales - you develop a resilient mindset constantly thinking about failure. You really don’t have much of a choice.

I always used to say that if sales were like batting averages - if you are batting .300 you are a hall of famer. Nowadays, I think the averages are even smaller. So even when things are going well, you always feel there is plenty to worry about.

This kind of thinking can help when running a business or pretty much any challenge in life. How? By taking some time to think about potential failure and prepare for challenges and obstacles that could be around the corner. It’s a healthy dose of disaster planning.

I wouldn’t spend all my head space here, that can be depressing. But when done right, it’s a healthy way to think about your business. Here’s why:

You can anticipate risk: Thinking about potential risks allows you to prepare.

• What if I don’t get that job?

• What if I invited too many people to the weekend getaway?

• Will we hit next month’s goals?

• What will happen if all content goes behind a paywall?

• What if we lose too many subscribers?

• What if advertiser dollars dry up?

Rather than basking in confidence that things will work out perfectly, I think about what I can do to pivot when they don’t. It allows me to plan accordingly, to measure each risk, and have a potential action plan should any of the above come to fruition.

You can set realistic goals - Disaster planning keeps me humble. This allows for more realistic goal-setting and to manage expectations. For work, when my business partner and I forecast revenue, we take potential issues into consideration and this allows us to manage revenue carefully. Thinking about potential issues that come up and having a plan keeps your expectations in check.

Disaster planning makes you more agile: When you worry about potential problems you create a mindset of agility. If this were to happen, how would be adapt and pivot? What changes would we need to make? Planning and being able to pivot more effectively brings peace of mind that you can handle any challenges (well, most) that may come your way.

Fostering a long-term view: When you think about potential problems early on you create smarter long-term thinking. It simply prepares you to have a plan, better tackle short term problems, and keep your eye on the long term prize.

A healthy dose of paranoia or disaster planning is a great approach to protect your business or any event from the unforeseen challenges around the corner. Spend an appropriate amount of time in this uncomfortable space and you’ll feel much more comfortable and resilient in your pursuit of success.

Let me know if you like this post here. Much appreciated.

I’m one of the founders of Rotary Digital. I’m an entrepreneur and advertising veteran for 30+ years counting. I’m married with three beautiful kids and one day hope to make art full time and continue to eat at Whole Foods.