Whooooa....Back It Up Baby!

I posted this a couple weeks ago over at After The Dust Settles... There is still lots of severe weather around, so I thought I would post it here too.

Have you backed up your hard drive lately? With summer storms in full swing now, power outages are inevitable and sometimes power surges come with them. Bad news for computers that aren't on a surge protector. Or maybe you have a surge protector that needs reset or replaced. Unfortunately, surge protectors do not last forever.

Last year my computer broke. It was acting up before we had storms, but then it bit the dust after a big storm. Turns out it was NOT storm related, but it did get me to really think about backing up data. I have a lot of files on my pc that I would hate to lose. So I got a battery back up surge protector and an external hard drive.

The battery back up surge protector is cool in the fact that it will allow your pc to stay on for 15 minutes, I think, even if your power goes out. This allows you to save anything you were working on and shut the computer down properly. After 15 minutes, on battery back up, it shuts the computer down itself. I don't know about your area, but out here in the sticks, our power is constantly flickering as any storm goes by. Last year, the computer would go off. This year, the surge protector keeps the computer going and switches back to household current when the electric is stable again. It's been a lifesaver. I got mine at the local computer store. I was desparate and paid top dollar. You can find them online for under $50 w/free shipping. They are very heavy, so free shipping is a must.

The external hard drive I use to back up my enitre hard drive. I have had computer problems in the past and have lost files as well as my hard drive. Each time I back up a few more files. Last year I found a reasonably priced external hard drive and began backing up everything. This will make it easy to start over if something were to happen to my computer. My biggest problem is just remembering to back up the hard drive every so often. I am going to do it today. Oh yes I am.

At the very least, if you are running windows, you should create a system restore point. It only takes a minute and will create a point on your hard drive that you can go back to, in case, say your computer gets a virus or something. I believe you can go back to that point before you had the virus and voila, it will be gone. If I am wrong there, please let me know. But I think that's how it works.

So, if you haven't lately, go back up your files! Do it now. You never know what is going to happen when. Trust me, it is way better to be safe than sorry.

Business Emergency Plan

My FIL recently passed away. We had to really search to find the papers we needed, just to take to the funeral home. Then finding insurance papers....that was another problem. A problem that could have been avoided.

That all got me thinking...what would happen if something were to happen to me? Or my kids? Or Hubby? Or even my mom or dad? What if I couldn't work for a while? What if I had to leave the business for a while? What would happen? Who, if anyone, could take care of things?

My business is manufacturing/retail. I handmake a product, then sell it online. The retail end is solely online. I have auto deposits set up, auto debits to pay bills. Other bills I have to pay manually.....but I still pay those online. There is not a single bill I mail anymore. I love the convenience of the internet.

My business is a sole proprietorship. I am the sole proprietor. Hubby is not part of this. It's just me. Me, myself and I. I have part time help I hire when I need it. But that is only during the busy times, and it is only to do things I don't need to have control over.

So, if something were to happen.....heaven forbid....who could take over? Or let people know things would be delayed? Or even close things down?

No one.

No one knows how I run things. How my bills are paid. What my user names or passwords are. Who to call if something happens and I can't work for a while. I thought about this years ago, and now that I am getting older, I really need to take the time and write.things.down.

Hubby is not computer savvy in the least. Not even a little bit. Without step by step instructions, he can't even check his bank account. He has no email account and wouldn't know how to check email if he had one. So, I am going to have to make this a very basic and easy to follow emergency plan.

He will need to know how to contact my webhost, merchant account provider and current customers. He will have to know my usernames and passwords for my bank accounts and bills I pay. There are a lot of little details that are going to need recorded. Someone needs to know how to shut things down, if circumstances call for it. Or my automatic debits will continue until my bank account is empty....

So, if you work at home, or are self employed, do you have an emergency plan? How do you have it set up and where do you keep it? Is there someone who can take over and keep your business going, if need be? Or would your business have to be shut down until you are able to get back to it?

Also posted at After the Dust Settles...