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The question asked that resulted in the following answer was: What would happen to your business and life if you were hit by a bus or had a personal crisis? A medical emergency? Or, needed to take time off to care for a loved one?

I didn't get hit by a bus :) However, I did have a situation that meant I had to change how I was working in my business. At the end of 2003 I found out that my Mother in the UK had cancer and I live in Los Angeles. So that my sister didn't have to carry the whole burden of taking care of the situation, I made a decision to be available whenever and however I was needed which meant putting all my goals for the next couple of years on hold.

After the first time I had to cancel a speaking engagement at the last minute because I received a call to come to London immediately, I put all speaking on hold. I explained the situation to my clients, who were very understanding and willing to work with me. When I was in London, if it was only for a week or ten days, clients sessions were sometimes put on hold or if that wasn't possible I coached via email.

I knew that if I was going to be able to effectively help and be available, for my own peace of mind, it would really be necessary to put all other aspects of my business on hold.

Although it was a challenging decision for me to make, that's what I decided to do. During 2004-2006, other than working with a few clients my business came to a stand still. When my Mother passed in 2006, I basically had to start over.

In mid-2006 I started working with a coach to get back on track. The choice I made definitely affected me financially from the stand point of not making the kind of money I had intended from my business. Although I didn't achieve what I wanted in my original time frame, things are well on track since the end of 2006 and moving forward. Everything is about choice, I decided what I 'wanted' to do, didn't let it stress me out and have never regretted the decision to spend the last 2 years of her life with my Mother.

I was very lucky to be in a place where I had another small income coming in, however had this not been the case, I would not have been able to make the choice I did.

I learned a very valuable lesson when this situation occurred. I encourage all solo-business owners to have a back up of some kind in place. There are unexpected things that happen to all of us in life at some time or another.

I think it's very important to have at least 6 months income in the bank to take care of mortgage, rent, expenses etc. should you, for any reason, need to take a break longer than a couple of weeks. Budget this into monthly savings so that it goes automatically into an emergency fund.

Depending on your business, if you have an assistant, make sure that you have enough copy written to cover absences. You need to still have a presence so that people remember who you are. Even if that means a monthly tip to stay in touch.

Everything in life is a choice so choose to have a plan in place rather than winging it.

To your success and brilliance,