The Plan B test
Choose one supplier, system or service your business would struggle without, then answer five questions. You get a plain read on how exposed you are and what to do first. Nothing you choose leaves your browser.
A guide, not professional advice. Related reading: The price of having no Plan B.
In short. A business Plan B is the ability to change course when a supplier, system, customer or person you depend on fails or changes its terms. Test each dependency with five questions: what would stop, how long you could cope, what replacing it would take, whether a real alternative exists, and whether switching has been prepared.
How the result works
Each answer scores 0, 1 or 2. A total of 3 or less reads as low exposure, 4 to 6 as worth a closer look, and 7 or more as high exposure. If core work would stop, the result is never shown as low. The next steps depend on your answers and on the kind of dependency you choose. Low exposure means low on these answers, not a guarantee.
The questions
- What would actually stop if it disappeared?
- How long could you manage without it?
- What would replacing it really involve?
- Do you have a real alternative?
- Have you done anything to make switching easier?
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