What's YOUR backup plan?

The one negative/funny experience that my wife Kari and I
had in San Fran happened to be our "romantic dinner night".

We were highly recommended to dine at Cafe Kati in the
Pacific Heights Area.

A quaint litter restaurant with eclectic taste, narrow
hallways, dark exotic walls and the faint aromas of
delectable dishes.  We even got the best table, with the
best view, thanks to reserving online.  We ordered a nice
bottle of Merlot, some peanut crusted prawns for appetizers
and I ordered the miso glazed black bass in a dashi broth
for my main course.

Yum!

Watching the other dinners come out and be delivered to the
other guests was purely teasing... and only builds the
hunger pains.

The wine was excellent, and the prawns were to die for.

NOW we were really looking forward to the main course.

Until...

BANG! CLANG, CLATTER, BANG

Pots and pans went a flying in the kitchen area, someone
could be heard screaming in frustration.  Something BIG was
up.

Not quite sure what was happening, we kept enjoying our wine
until I noticed a mass exodus of our fellow patrons.  Just
then the waitress comes over and says...

"you have to leave NOW! Our chef/owner is having a really
bad day and is closing up for the night."

Then she gave us the bill for the wine and appetizers!

So we had to guzzle our $50 bottle of wine - and walk out in
search of some dinner.

Not impressed.

Now, what happens to a business that has no backup plan in
this kind of situation?

#1 - someone like myself goes online and tells the world
about our bad experience - remember - www.cafekati.com - who
knows how many people may read this, or hear of this from
others.

#2 - they have received a formal complaint from us

#3 - I have told everyone we know this story... yes, it is
funny, but I would never go there again

#4 - 10 tables x 2 at each table = 20 people who each tell
10 people = now you have 200 people at a minimum who know
the chef at this place is a flake!

and...

#5 - the person who recommended me there (all the way from
Calgary Canada) now knows and will never tell anyone else
again about this place. And he knows a lot of people!

Total damage done = massive.

What could they have done?

They should have had a backup plan in place.  Backup staff,
chefs, whatever... find a way to keep the doors open and
serve your guests. And NEVER ask them to pay for the crappy
service you gave them. You should bribe them to come back
not charge them for abusing them.

What do YOU have in place for your business for backup?

What would happen if your computers disappeared over night?

What would happen if you fell ill for 3 months?

You must think about your backup plan - if you don't the
damage can be massive and take you years to overcome.

Think about what COULD happen... then make sure it doesn't!

Comments

[Chris Hudson]

You should use an automatic online backup tool like Data Deposit Box... It's not terribly expensive and you can back up as many PCs or servers as you like. Once you set it up, there is nothing to do.