Stormy weather and your business....

Having been through some bizarre weather recently (and continuing), I got to wondering if weather affects your online business. At first I thought, naw...it's online so no problem. Well, 3 days without power on a large area-wide basis proved the fallacy of that thinking!

So...how does it affect your online business?

How do you cope with the effects?

Any way(s) to turn the negatives associated with weird weather into money in the bank or other positives like good PR?

What other ideas would apply in various weird weather scenarios that would affect our businesses or business related things? Best way to handle them?

Sandi Bowman

Sandi,

As per my usual, some Different thoughts.

There's always a few interesting business ideas and Creative ways to "Weather" a little PR.

Think about all the Shortages of particular Products, Services and Problems caused by Weather...

And you Never know what You'll come Up with!

Study Bob's web site & business model(s)...

http://bobmccarty.wordpress.com/2007...0%99%e2%84%a2/

And my previous post...

Think about the Serious problem of Global warming... Education Hotsheets & Biz ideas?
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7143

Phil

Sandi,

We are going through an ice storm now so I know what's going on with you.

A big deal about this area is every winter and spring storms roar through this area and know out power. So, the business of selling generators is a hot deal, especially right now.

As far as our own businesses, you must get a generator to make sure you are always online OR we can always sell generators!

Millard

Thought I answered this once but computer must've glitched. Anyway, appreciate the replies.

Phil, thanks for the links. Not what I had in mind but interesting nonetheless.

Millard, sorry to hear about your ice storms. No fun. Think I'd prefer that to what we've had, however. Still making do but improving somewhat.

The reason for the post was to generate some ideas of work-arounds for weather caused business problems. Thought if we all brain-stormed we might come up with some great ideas since we have some very original thinkers here.

Generator idea is fine but not for apartment dwellers with no garage. Even so, you'd have to store enough fuel to see you through since gas pumps don't work very well without power.

Be sure to UNPLUG your computer, phone line to your computer, and other peripherals because when the power comes on, it will surge repeatedly off and on and you'll end up frying your power supply or more despite surge protectors etc. Leave a hall light turned on during outtages so you know when the power returns.

Best bet, back up your data (off computer), more often than you think you need to. If your system fails or gets fried, you'll be mighty glad you have the backups.

A portable (battery powered) CB unit and a person to contact out of your immediate area, can be helpful for business or personal contact emergencies when power is out. Most ISP's only keep emails for 2 weeks on the server so, in event of major, prolonged, outtage, you may want to have someone else, out of the affected area, pick up and store your emails for you. They could also, if you give them access, post a message to your list or on your site stating the situation so you have less to sort through eventually.

Sandi Bowman

[Dien Rice]

Hi Sandi,

Sometimes the power does go out where I live. When it does, I'm glad I'm usually working on a laptop! Since if the power goes out, the laptop battery automatically kicks in - and I don't lose any work.

Also, if there's lightning around, I can unplug my laptop from the wall, and keep working off of battery power. That helps prevent any damage in case there's an "electricity" surge - which can damage your computer. (It's never happened to me, but it's happened to people I know.)

I actually have 2 batteries for my laptop - so if one runs out, I have another as a backup. I've never had to use them due to power failure, I actually keep them so I don't have to worry about running out of electricity if I want to work in a cafe or some place like that. But I guess it could be handy in a storm too!

I like laptops... In fact, I don't even use a "desktop" any more! (My last desktop computer died some time last year, and I haven't bothered to replace it, since I don't really need it!)

- Dien

I wondered about laptops for continuous use since they seem so limited in capacity...how do they work for every day, literally all day sometimes, use? What about plugging in peripherals like external hard drives and printers...any limitations?

I've asked others but get conflicting answers. I trust your judgement so would value your input highly.

Thanks!

Sandi Bowman

[Ankesh]

I've been using a laptop as my main computer since 5 years now.

There are only 2 downsides to having a laptop in place of a desktop:

1. Laptops still cost a bit more than desktops
2. You can't upgrade your laptops as easily as you can desktops

But work wise - its perfect. You can take it anywhere. (Most new laptops already come with wifi too - so you can use internet anywhere there is wifi available). Makes it very flexible. Even if you don't travel much - you can sit anywhere in your own house... no longer get stuck to a desk and chair.

I would recommend you atleast get 40-80gb harddrive. And 1gb-2gb RAM (actually, if you don't intend to use Windows XP or Vista - then you can make do with less RAM. But because its hard to upgrade laptops - investing in more RAM from before makes good sense).

Oh - and go for Pentium Centrino - the battery lasts really long (3-6 hours depending on what you are doing on it).

Most laptops usually come with 2 usb 2.0 ports and a firewire port. But you could get extra usb ports for all your other hardware (printer, hard drive, tablet or wireless keyboard/mouse - thats 3. If you use all of them - go with 4 usb ports. You'll very rarely need more than 4 usb ports).

Before buying a laptop, search for coupons online. I saved about $500 on my last laptop because of a coupon...

Thanks for the valuable info, Ankesh. Really appreciate you taking the time to respond and help me.

Sandi Bowman

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Sandi Bowman

I wondered about laptops for continuous use since they seem so limited in capacity...how do they work for every day, literally all day sometimes, use? What about plugging in peripherals like external hard drives and printers...any limitations?

I've asked others but get conflicting answers. I trust your judgement so would value your input highly.

Hi Sandi,

Ankesh already gave an excellent reply! So here are a few more comments...

I've been using laptops of one sort or another I'm not sure how long - certainly for more than 10 years. However, I've always had a "desktop" computer too, until around halfway through last year or so...

I haven't found any trouble using a laptop. I think you can do almost anything with a laptop nowadays that you can do with a desktop. The main limitation, I think, would be for heavy "gamers" - people who want advanced graphics capabilities so they can play the most graphics-intensive games around! For me that's not an issue...

Until October last year, I was using a Toshiba Satellite laptop which I had bought in January, 2003. You could plug in anything you wanted - it had a parallel port for the printer, and so on...

In October last year, I bought a MacBook, and as well as running the Mac operating system (Mac OS X), I also installed Windows XP, so I can run either one. The main issue with peripherals with a MacBook is it only has USB ports. However, I think you can get adaptors so you can plug most things into USB ports nowadays...

Over time, I've owned probably around 6 or 7 laptops. Some of them (my early ones) were bought second-hand, while others (my more recent ones) were bought new. One issue I have always had is with the screen dying! That happened to my Toshiba I mentioned earlier, and also happened with other laptops I've owned (Compaq, Dell). You can still plug in an external monitor, though, so even if the screen dies you can still use it if you get an external monitor. You can also get the screen fixed, but in my experience even a fixed screen still "dies" again later on...

Personally, though, I still love laptops. I think I really like the portability, which is of course what they're there for!

I agree with what Ankesh says about hard drive size and RAM. Having very little RAM can really slow down your computer. (My current MacBook has 1 Gigabyte of RAM, and an 80 Gigabyte hard drive.)

I hope that helps...

- Dien

Thanks, Dien. That bit about Macs and USB ports only is especially useful. Never thought to check that aspect. Duh... Strange thing is that I currently have to use adapters on my USB accessories because I don't have enough USB ports and this old machine is creaking and groaning even now so don't want to try upgrading it any more than I have.

Wasn't aware of the dying screen thing...is that an across the board phenomenon regardless of screen type? Unless it is repaired, don't you essentially lose the portability? If so, what would be the point in working on a crowded (for my rather large hands) keyboard just to have a laptop? No point that I can see.

Thanks again to you and Ankesh. Lots of food for thought and further research.

Sandi Bowman