Do you have a “plan B” in the event of a financial SHTF?

When people hear the term SHTF, most immediately think of hard-hitting calamities. But financial SHTF situations can happen, too, and unfortunately, they’re not something a lot of people are prepared for. In the off-chance that your finances do go crashing down, here are some tips to help you recover. (h/t to ModernSurvivalBlog.com)

Before anything, it’s best to define what a financial SHTF is. It could be any event, whether it’s sudden unemployment, losing your business, or seeing the economy go downhill, that causes the loss of your source of income. It may or may not affect other people besides yourself.

The very first thing you need to do is determine where you’re going. So you lost your job or business – what do you do? Do you find another job? Do you open another business? Or do you try something new? Looking for a job is a very straightforward option – if you love your independence and decide to have a business, then you need to answer a few more questions.

Forming your plan B

Ideally, you need to have a plan B in place as early as before SHTF occurs. But getting on it, even when things have already hit the fan, is always better than not having done anything at all.

Selling your own product or service is one of the best strategies you can opt to do. But whether you have experience in business or are a newbie, you’ll find yourself going through a brand-new learning curve. Business often changes with the times, after all.

Here are some good questions to ask yourself:

• What are the newest trends or developments in retail?
• What will you sell and to whom? Will you be selling from your own stash or will you be restocking?
• Will you be selling from home or a physical store? You need to identify the advantages of each.
• Is there any compatible service you can sell along with your product?
• Will you be physically capable of delivering the service?
• If you need to relocate to another area, where will you go?

Once you have chosen your product and your intended customer, you need to keep a few more factors in mind. For instance, you may not have the necessary raw materials, ingredients, or equipment on hand to make your product. You need to determine where you will source these for a price that will not be seriously detrimental to your already limited finances. (Related: How to save loads of money while still eating organic, non-GMO foods.)

Some people would actually opt to combine two strategies – that is, work in a job and operate a business at the same time. If you ever decide to go down this path, you need to choose where more of your time will go. Will you be giving your business more focus or will be working on your job more? If you don’t think you have the energy to combine the two, it’s better to focus on just one and be very good at it.

The most important advice

A financial SHTF situation can be very stressful and difficult to deal with. But as is the case in any calamity, the very first thing you need to keep in mind – and perhaps, the most important, too – is to not panic. Keeping yourself focused will not just save you from the frequent pitfalls of panicking, it will also keep you alert for new opportunities to recover.

Always remember that your sudden loss of income does not define you as a person, nor does it embody your potential. A lot of people have gone through failure and have walked out with a scar or two, but all the better for it. Nothing’s stopping you from doing the same – or even better.

Learn how to survive any type of SHTF situation at Survival.news.

Sources include:

ModernSurvivalBlog.com

WiseBread.com