How a Paint Job Taught Me to Future-Proof Your Business
When selling my house a few years ago, I had to do a lot of painting before closing. I'm not a huge fan of painting, but as a tomboyish DIY Midwest gal, I do 'ok.' One such area I had to paint was the screened-in porch floor, and with gusto, I took on the challenge…
What could go wrong?
So I prepped it and started painting, which went great! Until I was almost done. At that point, I realized that I was staring at the corner of the porch, with a floor full of wet paint behind me.
I had quite literally painted myself into a corner. Never has an idiom absolutely made more sense to me than it did at that moment.
What's the point of this little story, except that painting a floor takes way more planning than you'd think.
So, what’s the takeaway from my little adventure? Besides, please don't ask me to paint anything for you.
But joking aside... the moral of this story is I see businesses getting themselves into similar tight spots quite frequently, often without an easy way out.
I've noticed that many businesses end up “painting themselves into corners” with their social media accounts, websites, emails, or even relationships with clients. Usually, it starts when a team member sets up something new, like a service or social media account, using their own organization-issued email (naturally).
Success, right?
Not so fast!
What happens when that person quits, retires, or wins the lottery, and that email address is no longer active?
Paint meet corner.
While this might not seem like a big deal:
What if it's your website? What if you lose your website domain because the email notifications are going to a dead address? The subscription might be an annual item, and you might never see it expire.
What if it's logging in to your social media account? What if you're then locked out of the account? No more posts. Setting up a new account will cost you your hard-won followers.
What if it's your accounting software, and now you can't access any of your financial information?
So, how do you ensure your business doesn't get painted into a corner? Well, just like painting the floor, a lot of this could be avoided with a little bit of strategy and a consistent approach.
Strategic use of' group email boxes: whether it's for job applicants, for tech services like your website domain or hosting, or general inquiries. A few but very strategic group email boxes will go a long way. For instance, in the non-profit space having a mailbox that is director@yournonprofit.com is a great way to ensure that all important subscriptions, services are accessible, no matter what. This is also a great way to pick up crucial departmental information (HR, Finance, IT), if someone is unavailable.
Track subscriptions and the email addresses used: If you're not already, you should be tracking infrequent subscriptions (think annually) with their due amount and due date; you need to do this ASAP. It's critical to planning and financial forecasting. If you are, then make sure you're also adding the email address where it's pointed. If you have something pointed to a team member’s email, you can correct it at the next renewal. It also gives you an overview of what group email boxes are being used in case there's a question and something needs to be changed.
ABSOLUTELY under no circumstances are personal emails to be used: Seriously, no personal emails for business purposes! You might wonder, “Who would do that?” Well, I’ve seen it happen. Once, a small non-profit had their executive director sign up for a service using their personal email while working from home. Fast forward a year, and after that person left, the organization’s website crashed. They had no idea why and, since that person was gone, there was no obligation on their part to help out. Ouch!
Use password managers such as LastPass: LastPass is a fantastic tool for keeping track of passwords while also letting you control who has access to certain accounts. With a LastPass account, you can manage website and subscription access without sharing passwords directly, which is super helpful if a team member who created a subscription is no longer around.
By applying these strategies, you can harness the flow of information seamlessly, ensuring continuity even when team members are on vacation or exploring new opportunities. Is your organization experiencing growth and struggling to navigate it? Reach out to Plan-It Documents today to save your day! Follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook
