When you suffer an accident in the workplace, it’s typical to receive help from the company itself. Whether it’s paying for your medical expenses or easing you back into work, they’ll be there every step of the way to help you out. Sadly, trying to ease yourself back into an at-home business can be very different.
There’s no one to turn to for help and you’ll generally be managing your own business even when you’re sick or in an accident.
So to help you out, we’ve prepared a couple of tips that will help you keep your business running even if you experience an accident.
If you suffer an accident, make sure you seek compensation
Although most of your time is going to be put into recovery, make sure you seek out a car accident lawyer or a similar attorney to help you with seeking compensation. One of the biggest problems when it comes to keeping your business running is any lost capital that you might suffer, and this can often be taken into consideration when there’s an accident.
While you recover, it’s a good idea to speak to lawyers, compensation advice and even your insurance company. Any of the money you claim back will go a long way in helping you recover your business can keep it running, so don’t skip this vital step in your recovery plan.
Use social media to get the message out
As an at-home business, you should already be using social media to help get the message out when it comes to promotions, new products and news about your services. However, you should also use these channels as a way to get the message out that orders will be slow for a period due to an accident that you’ve suffered.
It’s important to be transparent as a business, especially if you’re relatively new to the industry or have a loyal following that appreciates you for your honesty. Make sure you get the message out on social media and let people know that you’re going to be a little slow returning to work because of your injuries. If you’re a solo entrepreneur, then they’ll understand the delays and will be understanding.
Some customers may cancel their orders, but it’s better to let them know about your situation so that they can make the decision of picking a different supplier or service so that they can continue their business. This might not affect your relationship with these businesses or clients as much as you think because they will likely value your honesty, especially if you’ve provided them with a good service in the past.
Set up your system so you can work remotely
If you have to be at home on your computer to get any work done, then your workflow needs a serious upgrade. A big issue with most small businesses is that they don’t use the tools available to them that help them work remotely. If you can set up your workflow so that you can complete tasks on a small laptop or even your phone, then it will help your recovery because you can work from the hospital, work in bed or even work from a phone.
To do this, you’ll need to use cloud technology to set up a remote workflow. There are a surprising number of software packages that allow this and you’ll be delighted to know that many of them can be used for free. For instance, you can easily switch to a remote office workflow if you use Google Drive since it’s accessible on even mobile phones. Of course, working on a mobile phone keyboard is probably not the best idea, but it’s certainly doable if all you need to do is send a few short emails or edit a spreadsheet.
In short, if you’ve set up your workflow so that you can work remotely, it will help with the recovery period especially if you need to spend a lot of time in bed or in a hospital. It will allow you to continue working and also give you a way to keep in touch with your audience.
Hiring employees helps to reduce the impact
Even if you’re just hiring a couple of part-time workers to help you manage your business, upping their hours can help you manage your at-home business with ease while you’re out of commission for a little while. Whether it’s administrative tasks such as answering the phones or helping you manage orders and process them for your customers, there are plenty of tasks that one or two part-time workers can help you with.
However, you’ll need to trust these people with your business and they’ll likely become full-time employees once you grow your business. Hiring people to help you manage the company in your stead can be quite a difficult task especially if they’ve not worked with them previously, so you do need to build a bit of trust before you can put your business in their hands. However, having trustworthy employees working for you can greatly improve your business efficiency and the investment is well worth it.
Final words
If you’re going to start an at-home business then you need to remember to have a plan that you kick into action when you suffer an accident. Even if you’re incredibly safe and do everything in your power to avoid getting to the hospital there are going to be days where you’re sick and can’t find the strength to get out of bed and get some work done. This is absolutely fine and everyone experiences it once in a while, so don’t be ashamed to rely on others for support or let your audience know that you’re going to have difficulties fulfilling orders and services.
Most importantly, make sure that you contact an attorney and your insurance company to seek compensation, especially if the accident caused you to spend a lot of money on medical bills and repairs that you have difficulty paying for.
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