Running a business is full of days when you don’t know what will come next. Each day might start with your thinking you know what will come, only to end up as a day full of surprises and circumstances that can throw you (and your business) for a loop. Becoming ill is one of those circumstances that can change your business day in a huge way.

Becoming ill when you’re the only person running your business can be devastating in some cases. Running your  own business and being the "boss" can give you a feeling of power, but once you’re ill and everything comes to a standstill, that sense of power may dwindle to doubt and confusion. Doubt about what might happen if you’re not able to run your business and confusion about what to do when you’re sick in bed to the flu or something a bit worse. In reality, being ill for three or four days can cause a backlog that might take a week to rectify. Orders can get neglected, e-mails can get backlogged (if your business is online), telephone calls might not get answered and there are many other things that can happen to your business tasks.

Being prepared for sick days is a great way to make sure your sick days are as painless as possible. Here are a few tips that might help your sick days not be as disruptive:

1. First and foremost, if you sell items that need to be shipped you need to get those items shipped to your customers. If you make products, have a supply of products ready to be packed and shipped. You might be able to have a friend or family member do the packing and shipping for you.

2. Train someone (even if it’s a child) to be able to download your email for you and flag anything that looks important. Those e-mails can be printed out and read while you’re recuperating. It’s very important to tell this person not to delete ANY e-mails since they might not be aware of what you do and don’t want put into the trash bin.

3. Have a message ready for your answering machine and/or your website visitors that let them know you won’t be available for a few days. Don’t just neglect people if at all possible. Letting them know a "little something" about your plight is much better than not saying anything.

Life brings many twists and turns our way, but if we’re prepared and able to do what we can to make our customers know we still care, it goes a long way towards good customer care. Most of us don’t have four or five employees that can hold down the fort while we recuperate from the flu, minor surgery or other health issues so it’s up to us to be prepared and able to leap into action (even if we’re unable to physically take care f our business). It is possible to manage our businesses from a sick bed and still give our customers good service.