Plan Ahead

No, really. Plan ahead.

Who else has made this mistake before? I’m betting everyone. Even Superman forgot to have a plan B sometimes, and he’s Superman for crying out loud.

And no, I’m not talking about the aptly (and terribly) named pill. Besides, Superman is an alien and wouldn’t need that anyways.

Plans don’t always go according to, well – plans. So when they don’t, that extra alternative could be the difference between success and failure. Ever taken your laptop to class or a meeting and as soon as you arrive, BAM! Dead laptop. Yeah, me too. Luckily though, you’ve brought that archaic set of tools known as pen and paper.

A terrifying alternative, but it gets the job done. If you understand, just skip to the end. If not, keep reading.

Plan B and you

Did my first few paragraphs scare you into always having a fallback option? What do you mean no?

Fine, an old article from Entrepreneur.com showcases why you should always have another option to fall back on.

Because your first idea might suck (and your second, for that matter. Keep reading for plan C). 

No, really. I’m not being a smartass here. Maybe your company basis is fine, but your marketing strategy is a wash. Proceed to plan B. Try something else. Maybe your business model doesn’t make sense to anyone besides you – start over. If it’s not working, what’s the worst that could happen?

Plan C

The most prepared people have a plan C. Now, in some situations having two backup plans might be overkill, sure. But, in crunch time when your laptop dies and your pen runs out of ink, what do you do? Okay, I’m not sure either, but come up with something already before it happens to you! *cue scary music and lightning*

After implementing their own plan B for our economy, our government started working on their own plan C a couple of years ago. I’m not sure if they’ve had to implement any of it yet, but isn’t it reassuring that, in case of another economic collapse, our government at least has a plan in place? That sounds better than scrambling to fix things when the next AIG failure happens.

I guess what I’m trying to say is stop being lazy and have options. When life hands you lemons, make your lemonade. But make some fruit punch, too – because lemonade is nasty.