by bryce
20 replies
Just a random question, but one nobody has been able to answer in other circles. If you look at those places around the world that are now or have been experiencing unprecedented natural catastrophes of late, rendering the power "dead" - at least temporarily.....

If your income is derived solely from internet business..... "What would you do if the power went out for any length of time, either in your area, or in your customer's location?
#outage #power
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  • Profile picture of the author .
    pretty common in the Philippines mate.... not a "lot" you can actually do.... it's worst in the summer specially in places away from the capital
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    • Profile picture of the author bryce
      Wow ok so does your online business run on autopilot so that these instances don't affect your earning potential, or do you have "normal" work to do that keeps the money rolling in?
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Meaney
        It's largely automated but thankfully I have the right people in place for the parts that aren't. It's like steering a ship... I delegate and make sure it's heading in the right direction, if I went AWOL for a few weeks I don't think it'd be a big deal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Meaney
    Originally Posted by bryce View Post

    Just a random question, but one nobody has been able to answer in other circles. If you look at those places around the world that are now or have been experiencing unprecedented natural catastrophes of late, rendering the power "dead" - at least temporarily.....

    If your income is derived solely from internet business..... "What would you do if the power went out for any length of time, either in your area, or in your customer's location?
    This happened to me a couple of years ago, my apartment building was effected during the some of the UK floods (it's next to a river) - thankfully my property was ok but the basement car park was destroyed taking some very nice cars with it.

    I completely stopped working on the business.

    The building was inhabitable for weeks and the area was without phone or Internet for a day or two.

    So I left the immediate area... we were actually evacuated from the building via boat, so I couldn't take much with me. I went and stayed near a beach until things blew over.

    Here's the thing; I didn't lose any income.

    I stopped running the business, but to my amazement it carried on just fine without me.

    If only I'd known that during all those birthdays, Christmas Days and New Year Days I spent working on it. Since the flood, I now even take the occasional weekend off.
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    • Profile picture of the author bryce
      So did that couple of days raise any concerns about what you would do if access to the net was down for weeks?

      I mean we all "expect" that these things don't really happen - but I can't help thinking a lot of people in California are "out of action" for quite some time....
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      • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
        Originally Posted by bryce View Post

        So did that couple of days raise any concerns about what you would do if access to the net was down for weeks?

        I mean we all "expect" that these things don't really happen - but I can't help thinking a lot of people in California are "out of action" for quite some time....
        I very recently had my Internet down for five days. Every time I called Centurylink they gave me another new time in the future for service to be restored.

        I have orders that need to be submitted daily as they come in so I ended up outside a local Burger King every day, running my business off their free Wi-Fi.

        It was a pain in the ass for sure, but shit happens.

        All you can do is put the best plan you can in place for that possible eventuality and then hope like hell it doesn't happen.

        BTW, I also have a generator in the garage just in case the power goes out!

        Brent
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        • Profile picture of the author bryce
          Hahaha yeah was thinking about the generator idea... Over the past couple of days, it has raised some interesting thoughts.

          You are right though, planning for the possibility is certainly something to be considered I think. Cell/Internet coverage was raised, and I think that is ultimately important to plan for.

          Difficult one to overcome though, unless you have scaled your online business to also cater to a local "bricks and mortar" market?

          That way even if internet/cell went down, you can continue to trade to the locals.

          I look at some of those images being broadcast out of California, and the "devastation" is "years" away from recovery! Power and local net/cell coverage must be affected (haven't heard)
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    https://www.wired.com/story/in-puert...ommunications/

    Three weeks after the hurricane, there are still mighty struggles.

    It's all well and good to say your host is handling it while you are down or Clickbank keeps accepting payments even though you are drowning (perhaps literally) but think about a situation where your payment processor, your host, and you were all down. No Internet. No electricity.

    If it can happen there, it can happen elsewhere. And, while many payment processors have multiple data centers, there is nothing to say that they couldn't all be affected one after another. Houston and then a few days later Miami were hit by hurricanes, for example.

    My luck would be that my host in Houston had their backup in Miami. LOL

    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author bryce
    totally agree.... It has been raising some interesting conversation among friends here in NZ.

    It is an intriguing question. Thank you for your input
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  • Profile picture of the author megamind22
    Personally I would think of getting a solar power system in place and a power bank device. One that would be able to power my device like mobile phones and laptops since my business runs solemnly on those device.

    You can siphon power from sunlight to your solar panel and then to your power bank.
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    • Profile picture of the author OptedIn
      Originally Posted by megamind22 View Post

      Personally I would think of getting a solar power system in place and a power bank device. One that would be able to power my device like mobile phones and laptops since my business runs solemnly on those device.

      You can siphon power from sunlight to your solar panel and then to your power bank.
      That's great as long as you have satellite Internet access. In most catastrophes, all cellular access is lost, also.
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      • Profile picture of the author bryce
        Exactly - no power and no cell coverage.

        This is a two-way thing as well. It may not be "you" that is affected. It may be the majority of your paying customers who can't access their accounts. Money stops coming through and you suffer as a result.
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    • Profile picture of the author bryce
      Yes that was what I was thinking. The thing is deciding on when it would be appropriate to set the system up. Once the catastrophe occurs, it's probably too late
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  • Profile picture of the author Rose Anderson
    My island in Florida was under a mandatory evacuation for Irma. I packed up my laptop and continued working from North Carolina. That's the great thing about working online -- your business goes where you go.

    Had I stayed I'd been down for a few days and then would have had to play catch-up. But not a huge deal.

    Rose
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    • Profile picture of the author bryce
      Would your "downtime" be a big deal if the duration of the outage was any longer than a few days?
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Originally Posted by bryce View Post

    If you look at those places around the world that are now or have been experiencing unprecedented natural catastrophes of late, rendering the power "dead" - at least temporarily.....

    Bryce,

    Interesting question and one that all business owners should think about. Since the majority of members here have no on-going online business, their income would most likely stay the same.

    IMO, online business can still be an option if you prepare and set up your Internet access and payment options with a potential catastrophe in mind. And really, people that work at a physical job may have more to worry about in a catastrophe than online business owners. If you trade time for money, and you're working in a service type business, a long lasting catastrophe could be a real problem.

    Maybe it would be smart to do what the experts say and begin creating a cash reserve of 6 months salary for just such emergency situations. Most emergencies are much less painful when you're prepared ahead of time.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author bryce
      Great response Steve, and yes I concur. Although in most cases (here at least) the Government would step in to prop up "bricks and mortar" businesses in this event. We have seen it with our round of earthquakes. Banks put mortgage repayments on hold, government issues emergency grants, etc etc. Not sure if they would (in fact I don't think they do) prop up or support an online business....

      I think your idea of having 6 months salary as a backdrop is a good idea, that probably all online entrepreneurs should observe. Cash of course, in case the banks also went down
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  • Profile picture of the author Madhavi
    I've been there a couple of times. During the initial days of my IM days, I had to move to a new town, not knowing that they had a 10-hour scheduled power outage per day! That was 3 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the afternoon, and alternatively 4 hours during the night. I wasn't making enough back then, but I was able to scrape enough money to move to another place where power and connectivity wasn't a problem I had to deal with.

    Things were good from then, but come December last year we had a cyclone here which took out half the city I stay in now. We were in the stone age for a week with no electricity or water. We waited for 3 days hoping for things to be restored soon, but then moved to a less affected area for a few days so that I can resume work. And yes, my income is solely from my internet business.

    I learned one thing with all these experiences - some of these things are basic necessities for us, and nobody (including the Government) would fix it for you as quick as you wish they would. So when things go wrong, don't wait around, always go and find a way out.
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  • Profile picture of the author bryce
    Amazing... So it is a real issue. It is one of those things that doesn't usually gain a lot of thought, but it seems that anyone running an online business and relying on that income to survive, may face tough times when others do not.

    I am glad I raised the question now, as it appears it has raised some insight for some.

    Even all that "changing" locations would be a real headache. It is not easy to uproot families, belongings, etc and then you usually have to have surplus funds available for rent, moving costs, etc......

    Thanks so much for a reality check
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    but it seems that anyone running an online business and relying on that income to survive, may face tough times when others do not.
    It was a month after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 before my area had electricity again - 4-6 months before phone landlines were restored. For a full year after the storm power would go out often, sometimes for a few minutes and sometimes for a few hours.

    BUT, it was no harder to work online than for those who worked jobs - many business were destroyed. I was lucky to have IM to turn to as the business where I earned a good living was closed for a full year to rebuild. I could drive to somewhere that had power - or had internet available - and keep working. I could do planning and writing, etc while the power was out - and put it online as soon as I had access again.

    If you have a solid system set up you will do better online in most cases than your neighbors who lost their business location to fire or flood or hurricane winds. Planning ahead is key - have some savings and a plan for where you will go and how you will get back online should 'something' happen.
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