If you’ve ever been close to a fire you know what it’s like to feel scared and helpless. You don’t know what to do when the fire is near your home. If you can’t see the flames, do you evacuate anyway or do you stay until the time comes? Do you trust the words of folks around you or do you go with your instincts?
It’s hard to know what to do in a situation like this. If the fire is directly in your home, then the answer is easy, but if it’s a grass fire or forest fire that is several miles away, it’s not as easy to decide. If the wind changes direction it could grow in a matter of minutes, but it might go away from your home and then you wouldn’t have to leave.
The smoke and fire we refer to is much like your business. No matter what type of business you run, you’re likely to have fires that need to be put out. When they first start out, you see smoke because the flames are low. The same goes with your business. A problem in your business may start out small, but the more you ignore the problem, the more it will grow.
The problem could be a small problem where a customer is unhappy, but the longer you let this person go, the more of a problem it will become. They will tell their friends and family how you are dealing with the situation and if it’s a big problem, you might find yourself in court.
If it’s possible, you need to find a way to decide on plans for problems that could arise and how you’ll deal with them before they occur. If this is not possible, you need to make notes as these situations arise so you’ll be better prepared the next time. It’s trial and error so to speak, but once it’s over you’ll be prepared. Document everything that happened and keep it in a place where you’ll remember for future problems.
You know that a house or forest fire will burn out because the fire department has a plan of attack in place as soon as they arrive. When you have a plan of attack in place for your business, your problems will stay low like the flames and you won’t have to deal with huge flames because you’ve learn to let it go.