How to Cope with a Personal Emergency as a Business Owner

Has this ever happened to you? Your business is chugging along perfectly, and then your personal life blows up? Maybe you’re suddenly caring for an ill family member, or you’re the one to wind up in the hospital. Perhaps a natural disaster causes significant damage to your home, and you have to coordinate its repairs.

Dealing with these kinds of challenging scenarios can be stressful for anyone, but it’s double the pressure when you own a business. How can you keep the wheels turning if your emergency means you can’t come into the office every day?

Here are three things that can help your business endure a personal emergency.

1. Keep Personal and Business Finances Separate

If your emergency is financial in nature, it may be tempting to dip into company money to help you out in a pinch. This is especially true if your personal bank account is running close to empty, but it’s bad form. Using your business account to cover personal emergencies could complicate bookkeeping and taxes later on.

If you don’t have enough savings to handle your unexpected expense, consider taking out an online cash advance before you interfere with your business’ cash flow. Online cash advances fill the gap in your personal savings, giving you the means to handle unexpected auto or household repairs and medical expenses.

A financial institution such as MoneyKey can help you learn more about the different kinds of cash advances available online, so you know which one to choose for your emergency.

2. Have an Emergency Plan in Place

Finding an affordable cash advance online helps you cover the financial side of your emergency. But what happens if a family illness or household repair means you have to step away from the office for an extended period?

A crisis plan can help you delegate your responsibilities so that business can keep moving uninterrupted.  

Your plan can be as formal or informal as you want. However, it should outline tasks that your employees will have to take over while you’re away.

Make sure the staff involved understand their role in this plan well before you encounter an emergency. A proactive approach may help reduce the stress they feel when filling your shoes. More importantly, they’ll know ahead of time what’s expected of them, rather than having to guess in the heat of the moment.

3. Stay in Touch

Although you can temporarily step away from your duties to handle your emergency, you shouldn’t disappear off the face of the Earth. Your employees still need a way to get in touch with you should anything go wrong at the office.

Share clear instructions on how to reach you while you’re attending to personal matters, like whether you prefer emails or phone calls.

It would also help if you outline when it’s appropriate to call you; here, it pays to make sure you delegate responsibilities and tasks well before you take a leave of absence. Making sure your staff understands the hierarchy can help cut down on unnecessary calls, so you’re only tapped in for important decisions.

Once you have that down, make a point of reaching out regularly to staff to update them about your plans. While you don’t have to share the nitty-gritty details, giving them some insights will ease their worries. Nobody likes being kept in the dark, so your honesty will be appreciated!

The Takeaway

Although an emergency may be unpredictable, there are still ways you can prepare for unexpected time away from the business. Remember these financial and employee management tips to help you deal with your crises without interfering with your business.

Credit: Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

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