By USDR
Upgrading Operational Protocols
From parking to lunch breaks, timekeeping to energy consumption, employee workstations to team meetings, any business has protocols which have been established to maintain functionality throughout the minefield that is operations.
Murphy’s Law is a real thing. So is Factor X. Any business owner knows this; whether they’re running a small operation, or a large operation. Things that haven’t been predicted are going to crop up. There are going to be many instances where losses are sustained, and there is no way to predict them.
A great example is shipping. Say you’ve got a shipment of $20k worth of product that’s set to arrive via semi-truck Sunday evening. Now say the semi-truck driver you’re planning to use is one of the best in the fleet. Now say he’s been chosen precisely because of his acumen in driving.
He’s checked his vehicle. The engine is good. The tires are in excellent shape. The blinkers work, the A/C works, so does the heat. Seats adjust. The radio is in working order. He’s got access to other truckers via CB. Everything is set! This important shipment—one worth $20k to your company—will get through.
But then, as this gentleman comes up over a hill in the rain between the warehouse where he was loaded, and your location, a domino-effect of unpredictability hits. It starts simple enough.
One windshield wiper quits working. Then the other does. The driver would pull over, but he’s in the middle lane of a three-lane interstate. He tries to slow down, but the traffic is so thick he barely can.
That’s the exact moment when some driver lifted out of his mind on a cadre of potent substances turns left when he should have turned right, and because the driver of the semi—experienced though he may be—can’t see through the rain, he doesn’t notice in time to stop. He barrels right into the pile-up, the shipment spills irretrievably across the interstate, and your business loses $20k.
It doesn’t even matter how well you conduct things at your “home base”; sometimes exigencies like that just must be absorbed. Your insurance company would have covered it; but you were in transition, and they like to use loopholes—as is the habit of insurance organizations.
How can you possibly bounce back from something like that? Well, as it turns out, there is a way to be secure even in the worst unpredictable situations.
Consolidate Resources To Cut Expenses
You should always have some financial elasticity in your business model. There should always be room for your business to eat a few hundred thousand dollars. This could come in the form of a poor investment, or Murphy’s Law backhanding a semi full of product off the highway.
Find areas where you’re spending too much, and fix those areas. Solar power is a great example of something businesses can use to curtail traditional energy costs, increase property value, and be independent of “the grid”, ensuring no losses in the event of a power outage.
Another great way to save is through modern timekeeping innovations. By adopting a digital, internet-oriented employee timesheet, ClockSpot.com says you can “track employee time from anywhere.” This means productivity isn’t hinged on locality or employee memory improvements. An employee can work from home, should the need arise. Clock-ins can be done automatically once an employee enters or exits the premises, ensuring clock-milkers are curtailed.
Find where your business can cut the fat and build up a cushion for when Murphy’s Law decides your number is up. To sustain what can’t be avoided, you must curtail unnecessary expenditure.
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