I will be the first to admit it–I can be a real pain in the butt when it comes to planning for contingencies.

When a group of us heads out to a sporting event or shopping mall, I will be the first to ask, "When and where are we going to meet in case one of us wanders off?" or "Does everyone have a cell phone with them and is it on?"

My friends razz me about being a ‘Nervous Nellie’ but it gives me a comforting feeling to have a back-up plan.

This was never more useful to me than when I was in charge of a national meeting with five hundred plus attendees. Our main speaker was a marvelous young man who had overcome a drug and alcohol habit to become a model citizen and community leader in the city where he lived. With help, he had transformed his life to become a millionaire businessman and now spent much of his time making motivational speeches to encourage others to follow his path.

I was excited to see him perform in person after watching the video that his agent had prepared. He was dynamic, funny and had a wonderful story to share with our audience of insurance agents.

But the event didn’t happen.

He was first scheduled to speak to a small group of high performers at an early morning breakfast followed shortly by the main speech in the grand ballroom. However, at 10:30 p.m. the night before I received a disturbing call from our meeting planner. The speaker–to my chagrin–had fallen off the wagon and arrived at the hotel loaded with drugs and booze in a totally disoriented state.

My boss and I talked it over and made the decision to get him back on a plane (fortunately non-stop) early in the morning to his hometown and called his wife to meet him at the airport. Although we felt sad for the choices he had made, our immediate concern was how, in an incredibly short time, to fill in his space on the main platform.

We quickly searched our data base for presenters who had taught break-out classes the previous two days to see if any were still in the hotel. Fortunately, several were. Because I had taken the time to see each one in action, I knew who would be my favorite.

I called her room at 7 a.m. to explain our dilemma and asked, "By any chance do you have a material on another subject than the one you presented in your breakout sessions yesterday?"

"Absolutely," she replied. "As a matter of fact, it’s about always being prepared for the next opportunity."

"By any miracle–would you have a PowerPoint to go with it?"

"Oh yes. I always come to these meetings with more than I need."

"We’ll pay you what we were going to pay him if that works for you."

"That’s just fine," she said. "Give me a little time to fix myself up and I’ll get my material down to your A-V guys."

Bottom line: We informed the audience that our advertised speaker had to return home due to a family emergency but we had a terrific replacement. Elaine did not disappoint–they loved her. She had a wonderful message and was rewarded with both a standing ovation and a sizeable check for her efforts. She and I have remained friends and keep in touch to this day.

The lesson for you?

Your best laid plans as an entrepreneur can fall apart in a minute for reasons beyond your control. Do you have a back-up plan in place if the proposal you make is rebuffed? If you are about to make a group presentation and the equipment doesn’t work? If your favorite product become uncompetitive? If a shipment doesn’t come in. If your best employee leaves?

I suggest that you join me in being a ‘Nervous Nellie’ about those sorts of things. You will never regret having a Plan B to fall back on.

Bill Sheridan:  ‘Sheridan Writes’—see my bio under Guest Authors

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