The Infopreneur
Thrives On Little Backup

As a home based infopreneur, I have few backup measures to take at home. I do not manufacture, store, manhandle, nor ship hard goods. My business product is information.

I conduct all my business from my Web site. It is located in a secure, fully backed up environment where my Web site is hosted. No event is likely to disrupt my business operations for more than a few minutes. My visitors and clients always have access to my Web site.

I keep a backup of all my Web site data, and the software required by my business, at an alternate location. Just in case.

No Time-Critical Activities

• Research and development,
• Webmaster (Web site development and administration)
• General small business administration.

My business can run in full automatic mode for days, even weeks, without my intervention. It is located in a separate location from my home. Anything untoward happening at home will likely have no noticeable effect on my business operations.

The Disrupting Events

• Wait until things get back to normal.
• Resume operations as soon as possible while remaining on site.
• Resume operations as soon as possible from an alternate location.

Backups of data, software, computer system and any other equipment may be required to resume normal business operations.

Note that all the above situations will involve certain delays. You will have to evaluate the length of delay your business can tolerate before it begins to hurt your bottom line.

The Disrupting Events And The Infopreneur

As an infopreneur , I require a few accessories:

• A computer and monitor,
• An Internet access,
• A printer,
• A scanner.

If I cannot use these accessories for a few hours, or even a few days, my Web business will never be in the least affected. My Web site will keep greeting visitors, providing them with the information they are looking for. Some of them will even become customers, while I wait for things to return to normal at home!

Therefore, my Web hosting company supplies me with all the automatic offsite backup services I need to prevent any interruption of service.

I can get by for quite a while with only a pen and some paper!

Therefore, the following four events only have minor consequences on me:

• Power failure
• Computer hard disk failure
• Broadband Internet access failure
• Simultaneous telephone and Internet failure.

These events will only temporarily affect my administration, and my R&D activities. Both these activities, although important, are not time critical.

Let's look at each of the four events from the point of view of the infopreneur. You will discover that backups are only necessary if I want to do some secondary tasks that are not immediately essential to my business operations.

1. Power failure:

• PC and monitor
• Laptop (usually turned off, on hold).
• Broadband Internet Interface Device (modem)
• Small router. It also is equipped with a firmware firewall, which is much sturdier and reliable than a software firewall, such as the one that is supplied with Windows XP.

Besides supplying power (for a limited time) during an emergency, the UPS also serves to clean out the power coming in from the power lines under normal conditions. It filters out voltage spikes, "brownouts" and phase shifts. Any of these could zap your computer power supply, as well as the peripherals, in a fraction of a second.

My laser printer is not on emergency power. It consumes too much energy when printing, and is not essential to my core operations. The scanner is also not essential, and so is not connected to my UPS.

When power fails, I switch over to my laptop as a backup computer. It consumes less power than my main computer and monitor. I shutdown the PC and continue working on the laptop.

When my UPS batteries are depleted after about 90 minutes, I can continue working for another hour or so on the laptop batteries, if need be. I even keep an extra battery pack fully charged and ready to go.

If the power failure occurs in the winter, I use a 5KW gasoline power generator with a couple of 1500W electric heater "cubes" to keep the temperature above freezing. I have had only two multi-day winter power outages in the past 20 years.

2. Computer hard disk failure:

I maintain a laptop in a constant state of full readiness. I copy over to it, a few times a day, all the new data that I generate or acquire. It is always on line, connected to my LAN. My laptop is fully configured as a clone of my main computer, with identical operating software and applications.

3. Broadband Internet access failure:

4. Simultaneous telephone and Internet failure:

I have arranged to move over to my son's house with my backup laptop, if I have things to do that cannot wait. This is unlikely, considering my situation as an infopreneur. My Web business keeps "purring on", on full automatic control, within the protected environment of my Web hosting company.

Other types of businesses

In addition to a PC and the Internet, your small home-based online business may also:

• Store manufacturing supplies,
• Rely on other utilities (running water, gas or oil, …)
• Perhaps makes use of vehicles (car, delivery van, …).
• Relies on the other businesses (package pickup & delivery, accounting, printing, …).

Each of the above play a more or less vital supporting role to your small home-based business operations.

If you manufacture products to sell through your Web site, you will obviously have to consider additional backup measures as you see fit. Each small business situation is unique and requires specific backups.

The pure infopreneur will require very little backup, while the small home-based manufacturer of hard goods, using special shop equipment, will likely require more.

If you operate a small manufacturing business, you will need to evaluate the importance of each piece of equipment, and decide if a backup is required. Obviously, if you use a lathe to make wooden chairs, you will want to have access to a backup in case of equipment failure … if you want to deliver that large order on time!

In any case …

• All your business related data daily.
• Each software package that cost money.

If you are not an infopreneur, you may need to make arrangements with someone reliable and trustworthy to temporarily takeover the essential operation and administration of your small business. Train that person on an ongoing basis, as your business grows. That person must be ready to step in:

• if you have an accident,
• if you are suddenly incapacitated by illness, and will be out of commission for a while,
• or if you just want to take some well deserved time off.

For more information related to the issue of backups, I invite you to read these other pages on contingency plans, data safeguards, and emergency power.

Stay tuned!

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