What’s the Girl Guide motto – “be prepared”? Typically, when writing about passwords, email etcetera we are cautioning you to be top secret and careful. The flip side to secrecy as a business owner is being prepared. Do you have a plan in place for your business in case you are suddenly out of commission? Are you the only one with access to items required for your operations to continue? How do you balance confidentiality and access to confidential information when required?
Operational Plan
Beyond you, who knows how to schedule, where the money is, the alarm code? None of this stuff is trade secret stuff but can bring your business to a grinding halt if no one else can jump in. Best case scenario: get your operations documented and keep it current. Consider an “in case of emergency plan” that your team can activate.
Documenting Trade Secrets
Laptop passwords that give you access to millions of dollars and secret sauce recipes do not belong in a procedure manual BUT as Quadriga has learned they do need to be documented somewhere. Store them in an encrypted vault that at least one other person access to. Go old school and store them in an actual vault if it makes you feel safer. Our bank gave our sons a tour of the vault and banks still have safety deposit boxes!
Who to trust with this limited access
If you’re lucky enough to have a business partner (or even a life partner who provides kitchen table advice) they are great options for sharing your master password. You might have bigger problems if you can’t trust either of these people. If you don’t have a partner or really struggle in the trust department you could work with a lawyer or notary and ensure your will contains the necessary information or indicates where to find it.
Our first inclination is to keep things close to our chests but we can only really grow a thriving business through ensuring our businesses can survive without us – by accident or through sale. The unfortunate death of Quadriga’s CEO is a wake-up call not just for crypto currency but for all of us to be better prepared.