Do you run your own business? If you do, have you ever stopped to think what would happen to it if you were sick?

Would it be able to continue without you for any time at all? You may be its driving force, its brains, force behind its success and growth. That is all well and good. But if you are its sole key to survival - if it would it collapse without you present and active for even a short time - then you are in a very precarious position. You should be worried.

Are you indispensable?

If you run a successful business on your own, or with just a few employees, you are potentially very vulnerable to state of your own health. You never know when you may fall ill to some bug or other, or more serious longer term disease. Unlikely? Well, maybe, but possible.

More likely, perhaps, if you are young and fit is a sporting injury of some sort. Injuries occur regularly in such activities as skiing, mountaineering, riding motorbikes, riding horses, and so on. You may be even be knocked down crossing road.

All these events have a small but finite risk of occurring, but if and when they do you and your business had better be ready.

Imagine you were unexpectedly away for a week. Could your business run without you? What if you were away for a month?

A small business can fold in these timescales. Customers won’t always wait for an extra a week before receiving delivery of their orders. One in a thousand would wait an extra month. And if you are not even there to answer emails or telephone then they will write you off straight away as a dud company or a fraudster.

So what can you do? Well, here are a few ideas to put into practice.

1.Keep records. Don’t keep all your knowledge in your head. Keep it on paper, electronically, wherever, but record it. Keep customer records, sales records, records of bills to be paid and when they are due. Keep records of everything that is essential to know to keep business running while you are away. Record your business processes and procedures. And do it all in a way that someone else can understand.

Cross cultural solutions to international business demands are increasingly being viewed as a valid and necessary method in enhancing communication and interaction in and between companies, between companies and customers and between colleagues.

Cross cultural consultancies are involved in aiding companies to find solutions to challenges cross cultural differences carry.

International and national businesses are ultimately result of people. As with incompatible software, if people are running on different cultural coding, problems can occur. Cross cultural consultancies therefore concentrate their efforts on interpersonal communication.

Different cultures and cultural backgrounds between a highly diverse staff base brings with it obstacles, challenges and difficulties. Cross cultural differences manifest in general areas such as in behaviour, etiquette, norms, values, expressions, group mechanics and non-verbal communication. These cross cultural differences then follow on through to high level areas such as management styles, corporate culture, marketing, HR and PR.

In order to overcome potential pitfalls, specialist attention is required in form of a cross cultural consultant. As one would approach a doctor for a medical diagnosis or an accountant to examine finances, cross cultural consultants offer expertise, experience and know-how to diagnose problems and provide solutions to interpersonal cultural differences.

Within companies there are many facets in which cultural differences manifest. Some key areas which cross cultural consultants deal with include, but are not exclusive to, following:

Cross Cultural HR: HR covers a wide range of business critical areas that need cross cultural analysis. Consultants may offer advice on a number of areas including recruitment, relocation, international assignments, staff retention and training programmes.

Cross Cultural Team-Building: in order to have a well functioning business unit within a company, communication is critical. Cross cultural consultants will provide tools and methods to promote staff integration, reduce cross cultural conflicts and build team spirit. This is essentially done through highlighting differences and building on strengths to ensure they are used positively.