Does your business have a blind spot?

Wednesday

Mar062013

Posted on Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 03:03PM

Does Your Business Have A Blind Spot?

Chris Robinson

A growing business has a lot of plates to juggle – and most of them are obvious. If you have strong branding, strong sales, a growing market share and solid strategizing about your next product or service; you might feel like you have everything in hand for a well-run business. But there are other, equally important concerns that are harder to see, and that many companies don't think of – even large well-coordinated companies. It is important not to leave yourself open to surprises, especially the ones that can set a business back.
So how do you know if you have a blind spot? Here are three of the most important areas to look at.
1. Business continuity. When Super Storm Sandy hit in 2012, a lot of large companies thought they had everything they needed. Good security, reliable staff and insurance on all of their buildings and equipment. But when a disaster strikes, it's not just the price tag on a new roof that goes into the dollar cost. Office closures, data loss and crucial infrastructure damage can all contribute to huge delays in reopening or serving your full capacity, and that means loss of profit. You should have a business continuity plan including business continuity softwareto back it up. Don't let a fire, storm or terrorist attack unhinge your business.
2. Smart social media curation. The days of the social media “experts” promising huge revenues from promoting on social networks are thankfully at a close. However, the power of social media remains very strong – and very real. Many companies have a policy of simply echoing brand messages on their Facebook and Twitter platforms, or worse, run their pages with no intentional social media protocols at all. Both of these can be veritable suicide by letting your single biggest megaphone rust while your competition gets better and better at using theirs. This is especially true the day an unhappy customer decides to lampoon you on social media – the right (or wrong) response can have lasting effects. Have at least one dedicated social media staffer who understands smart curation, and create protocols around social media.
3. Reputation management. The internet makes it easier than ever to bloody someone's nose in a very public way. Simply ignoring criticism is a dignified response, but it won't get it off page one of Google results. If you have negative PR, go all-out and hire a reputation management company. If you have no obvious bad publicity, consult with one every two years preventatively.
Business continuity software and online tactics are only a few of the ways you can prevent being blindsided.

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Jake Alexander is a free lance writer who enjoys blogging about business. Follow him @JakeAlexander17.

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