It’s going to happen, you know.

No one wants it to. Everyone hopes it won’t. Many naively believe it can be avoided.

But despite all the careful business planning in the world, focused execution and careful devotion (cue Google business software soundtrack), there’s no way around it: something is going to go wrong with your small business.

Listen, if it can happen to Tom Cruise, it can happen to anyone.

It could be a big thing. It could be a little thing (hopefully). But ultimately - and unfortunately - it will be a bad thing.

How can we know this? Well, hmmmm…OK, so is there a laptop out there that doesn’t get hot? Seriously, nobody saw this one coming?

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Dell laptop, the current and previous version. But the current one gets plenty warm, and the last one gave new meaning to “warm to the touch.” The new meaning was always just a dropped “t” away: “warm to the ouch.”

I was actually super excited when the recall hit - much more excited than I was about the Emmy Awards, even with Conan hosting - as a cooler running battery would mean fewer palm scalds for yours truly.

Imagine my surprise when neither my current battery nor the previous two qualified for replacement via the Dell Configurator! 

Folks, all this can mean is that the batteries that did get pulled must have generated temperatures in excess of the earth’s core.

And in this day and age of global warming, we need much less heat and much more environmental good news. Thank you, IRS, for the hybrid tax credit!

Anyways, between Dell and Apple - and the collective 6 million batteries due for recall - ouch. And how about Sony, battery manufacturer to both? It is not a good thing.

In Sony’s defense, some analysts say the overheating battery conditions often can’t be duplicated in the lab, but Sony labs, take note: turn sample laptop on, open 6 programs and 19 browser windows simultaenously, and start watching random videos on YouTube.

Now burn a CD. Then spill some mocha java on the touchpad. Who needs a lab? That’s really all there is to it.

The point being, even when you think you’ve figured it all out, there’s a chance that maybe just maybe, you didn’t anticipate every possible contingency.

Like, were the execs at CBS really thinking straight when they came up with the plan for Survivor this season? I am thinking not.

And now Ford is thinking of going private and selling off its premium brands, too. When they were first buying up Jag, Land Rover and Volvo, my guess is that this definitely wasn’t in the plan.

So, bad things happen. But what are you going to do about it?

For starters, you’re not going to panic. As Dell and Apple are doing with Sony, address the issue, take care of the customers and move forward.

It won’t be a picnic, but stay calm, write down your reaction plan, and roll with it.

Good example: lets give some credit to NASA for delaying the liftoff of shuttle Atlantis. The Space Administration has rushed to deadline in the past, to catastrophic results. Not this time.

They don’t get to claim the first Space Tourist, but hey, that’s not really where their head is at anyway.

When it comes to your small business, if you’ve already done the big thinking and the heavy lifting, you’ve laid the groundwork to weather the unforseen.

As with storms of the meteorological variety, when it comes to those of the entrepreneurial sort, this too, shall pass. 

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Want to prepare for the unexpected? Check out Grow My Business for advice and opinions that will give your business venture prepare for the unexpected, and visit Avanquest USA for affordable productivity, utility, digital media, mobility, finance and PC Protection home and small business software.