Could your business deal with a 9/11?

THOUSANDS of pieces of paper fell from the sky. Important documents that once rested neatly in in-boxes on countless office desktops were covered in white ash and black soot, and lined New York City streets and sidewalks.

Stacks of paper, reports, and memos were no longer - completely incinerated by the burning jet fuel spewed from the two jet airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Nine buildings collapsed in New York City during the worst terrorist attack on American soil. Thousands lost their lives and there were billions of dollars worth of destruction and property damage. Yet, the resolve of New Yorkers and the American people rose to a massive crescendo of support for their country.

The New York Stock Exchange stood still for an entire week. Companies no longer had offices for their employees. Executives had to quickly relocate to get their businesses back up and running so they could continue to do business and people wouldn't lose their jobs and our economy could be stable.

No one likes to even think of something this horrific happening to their business. People hide their heads in the sand, naively thinking that their small businesses don't need emergency plans.

Yet, people are quick to blame others for not having a plan. They blame their governments for not being well enough prepared for emergencies or attacks.

However, when it comes to business, it's up to each one of us to think about an emergency plan before anything happens.

What if something happened to your office one morning? Would you be able to be up and running within a week, or less? If not, here are three things to get you started on your emergency plan:

» Have an off-site back-up service for all of your computer documents and files.

» Get insurance coverage for all office equipment, supplies and buildings.

» Keep an up-to-date customer database -- especially if your office system is primarily paper-based.

As I was going through my business cards to be organized into a computerized database, one card in particular caused me to pause.

The address on the card read One World Trade Center, where an old friend of mine once worked. I wondered where he was on that fateful 9/11 morning, and where he is today.

Realizing how short life is, and how quickly time passes us by, I left the office early to take a walk on the beach and reconnect with a friend. After all, my inbox will still be waiting for me tomorrow.

Make sure that no matter what happens, yours will be there tomorrow, too.

John-Paul Micek is the lead business coach at RPM Success Group Inc. Reach him at JPM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.

Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach and life strategist. Reach her at DCM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.

Read an expanded version of this article at www.GetCoachedforFree.com.