Before you say “Not another compuuuuter situation,” I have taken into account my previous posts and come up with a general way to address the potential hazards of not knowing how to use a computer.  It’s okay not to be computer savvy, but let’s say you have a problem and a technician is called in to fix your computer.  The technician tells you everything you need to do to prevent this from happening again – but you didn’t get all of it and didn’t deem it important to ask the tech to repeat it… so your computer is broken again.  What do you do?

My take: This is OBVIOUS.  Listen to the tech and do everything he/she says!  History repeats itself and if the tech is speaking in jargin, ask him/her to repeat it and simplify.  By using the right words, almost any computer problem can be solved by someone who has never touched a computer.  You just have to know the right order of operations.

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 29: Computer Problems

Your small restaurant is building a classy reputation – the name of the restaurant is Wilkin’s (after your pretend last name… trust me).   Recently, there was another restaurant on the news that wouldn’t let handicapped people in or make their establishment handicapped-accessible because they weren’t “part of their target market.”  This put the media in a frenzy and everyone within 200 miles knows of that problem.  No concern, right?  HA!  Wrong – their restaurant is called Wilkin’s Family Restaurant.  Though most people know the difference, there has been an obvious decrease in traffic to your restaurant (minus the occassional idiot who went to protest at the wrong place).  What do you do to save face?

My take: Oof – I guess the best thing you can do is put up a sign saying “It’s not us!” and hope it all blows over.  This actually happened to a restaurant in Georgia, which is where this situation comes from… except it was over some clearly-racist shirts.  Maybe some of you would take the other extreme and rename your restaurant?

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 28: Name Issues

Business was booming.  You had the market cornered with your website on custom pet food, but now people have really stolen your thunder.  Your visits have seen a sharp decline over the past few months and your sales have decreased by over 30%.  Your website looks OKAY… but not as clean as your competitors’ sites.  How should you regain your market?

My take: Hire a web builder to help your site along!  Sure, they may be expensive, but you may not be thinking of the potential benefit that comes out of having a better site.  You will rank higher on search engines, be easier to use, and just plain look better.  The next step is to market new products.  To stay a step ahead of your competitors, sometimes it means doing something differently… even if you were the ones who first set the standard.

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 27: Flooded Market

Sometimes it is hard to sleep.  In fact, if you are not managing your time just right, you will find your sleep/work schedule has turned upside down.  So you have pulled an all-nighter, it’s mid-afternoon, and you have to finish up your plans for the day before retiring to the bed.  Unfortunately, you have an important meeting the next morning with some clients.  You begin to worry about your own health.  What’s the best way to catch up with sleep without losing too much time?

My Take: Sleep keeps the gears in your mind turning.  It keeps you sane, it makes you feel better, and ultimately perform better. It is one of the most important parts of your day.  Make sure you plan everything out to compensate for miscalculations in scheduling… expect the unexpected!

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 26: Insomnia…

This isn’t much of an “Oh Crap” situation as it is a basic decision: planes, trains or automobiles? You have been working with a shipping company for a long time, but since gas prices have gone up… so have shipping rates. Trucks have recently gotten quite expensive, and doing long hauls (of over 1,000 miles) have gotten incredibly expensive. Despite the expense, it is still slightly more economical to make those long hauls rather than using something like trains to bring your products to an intermediate point. However, the benefit of potentially being better for the environment (is it?) and the ability to tell customers that you don’t rely on semis may benefit your image. What should you do?

My take: I would still use trucks.  Last time I checked, no one asked about shipping methods… or cared, for that matter.  However, we are approaching a tipping point for some of these companies.  Maybe it is time to improve shipping methods to avoid the excessive use of gas.  What are our alternatives?

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 25: Logistics!

You started a business selling small appliances with a friend, but recently communication has been a bit dry.  He’s been going over your head and making financial decisions that directly affect the company without consulting you.  You feel like your grasp is slipping away and you aren’t sure how to approach him.  What should you do?

My take:  If I was in that position, I would approach him ASAP.  Don’t go out of control with emotion since it will often lead to irrational thoughts and words.  Simply map out everything that is going on and remind him to tell you before he makes any more decisions.  If he continues to do this, don’t seek revenge – involve yourself.  Mediate the situation and move from there.

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 24: You Included Who?

The flu is going around and, of course, you get it (why didn’t you get your flu shot?!).  What are you supposed to do for two weeks?  You are bedridden.  Luckily you have one person working for you who usually picks up your slack, but how can you hire someone else without being able to get up or work on anything administrative?  How should you deal with this?

Here’s my take…

Prepare for the worst.  Always have someone on call to fill in (whether it is a friend or a part-time employee).  Consider even hiring 2 part-time employees… in case something goes wrong, you have a larger pool of people to potentially assign to positions/hours.  We’re talking about a very small business here, so sometimes things like this will happen.  Since going to work is unsanitary, the worst-case scenario is just closing the store for a few days or limiting the hours.  What else can ya do?

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 23: Sick

You have a business opened in the middle of downtown and the city says they need to work on some water pipes below your building.  They have found some leaks which could potentially cause water contamination or other, more complicated issues.  Unfortunately, the city insists on working on it immediately – so you have to shut down your business for a few days.  Lo and behold, you receive a phone call from the city saying there have been some complications with the repair.  The water that was leaking has actually caused some serious erosion below your building and has collapsed the center of your shop due to a sink hole (this is an actual situation).  What should your next step be?

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 22: Water Problems

Your site is up and you’re getting steady hits. Finding new ways to allow users to interact with your website is increasing your hits steadily. One feature, in particular, is the chat box. You have a few dedicated members of your site who continuously and actively use your chat box. Unfortunately, hackers have found a way to mess with your code by using the chat function. How will you secure this features and the others on your site? How should you re-evaluate your position on controlling security of all of your features?

On a side note, this kind of stems from a personal experience. I had a website with a message board (PHPBB) which would continuously experience DDOS attacks and ultimately led to my front page being hacked several times. After a day of testing, I figured out I had a version of PHPBB that wasn’t updated. So make sure all of your third-party software is updated properly!

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 21: Hacked!

You opened up a sub sandwich-making franchise and you operate it locally.  You have two employees who seemed like perfect candidates when they were first interviewed; but you can’t judge a book by its… interview.  Customers are turned away  because your employees act like they don’t want to work when you aren’t there (it’s like they are spreading hate on peoples’ subs!) – at least, that is what you hear.  You have talked to them, but it only seems to be a temporary fix.  Should you interview new employees or keep them there (to spare time for training)?

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Crap Situation 20: Work Ethic