Last week, we had a couple of snowstorms in here Texas. Monday brought about four inches of snow and Wednesday brought another five. If you know nothing about Texas, we are definitely not known for our snow days. In fact, we rarely get snow; we usually just get ice and that’s probably one day a year.
Texans don’t know what to do when it snows. Schools and businesses shut down. Grocery stores are swarmed for food and toiletries right before the storm blows in. Most people refuse to drive in it. Water pipes burst because people don’t properly prepare their pipes for the freezing weather. Power outages and rolling black outs cover the cities. It’s a mess, to say the least.
Most of my northern friends have been making fun of us Texans because of our snow-pocalypse. They talk about how Texans are panicked over “a little snow” but they don’t understand – Texas was not designed for this type of weather. Our homes are not designed in the same way that northern homes are. Our water pipes are not set as deeply in the ground, thanks to the clay that we have down here. Our roofs are not as sturdy to endure the weight of so much snow. Our roads do not have the same type of infrastructure. We don’t even have salt trucks down here; we have sand trucks, and a limited number, at that. We simply weren’t prepared for this. (Then again, my northern friends wouldn’t know what to do with 106 degree weather either…)
In business, it’s important to be prepared. No matter if it’s unexpected weather, a pandemic, or something else – we need to have a plan in place. Having a backup plan is important because it can make or break whether or not you remain open. If you aren’t set up for a specific situation, you’re likely to lose work time, causing you to lose customers. Have a plan set up so that you know who is doing what and how the tasks will be done. By doing this, you can avoid being stuck in a situation that you can’t plow your way out.
