Coping With Sickness When a Deadline Looms All the Nyquil in the world won't get that project done when you're chained to your bed with an illness.

Achoo! Sniffle, cough, wheeze. Those sickly sounds sum up mymost embarrassing entrepreneurial experience yet. A new client hadgiven me an assignment needing a quick turnaround: Spend anafternoon at her day spa, experience the different treatments, andcreate the text for a brochure and press release. The day beforethe assignment, I was attacked by a vicious flu bug.

Determined to meet the deadline, I dragged myself from bed atthe scheduled time. A few dozen sneezes and a cup of herbal tealater, I managed to interview the women at the spa, I turned in myassignment on time-and I never heard from them again.

Consider it Murphy's Law for homebased entrepreneurs: Themore pressing the deadline, the more important the project, thesicker you will be. All you can do is create a plan to deal withthose inevitable illnesses. That's something Kristen Timmers, founder andpresident of Los Gatos, California, marketing and event planningfirm Timmers & Co. Inc., learned long ago. "[I've] hadmany [instances] when deadlines were approaching and I wasmiserably ill," she says.

Timmers handles these situations in various ways: "Ifit's a self-imposed deadline, I immediately let the client knowI would like to extend the deadline by a day or two to doadditional research and work." If the client has given her thedeadline, however, she has worked through 102-degree fevers. SaysTimmers, "One thing you learn quickly as a consultant: If youdon't deliver, the jobs stop coming."

Still, working through those colds and fevers can be incrediblydraining. One key to surviving illnesses without damaging yourbusiness or yourself is to build a support group of colleagues whocan come to the rescue, as Timmers has done. Although it costs moreto hire others than to do the job yourself, "it's worthit," she says. "If I can enlist the help of a fellowconsultant and pay them a fee but save face with the client, theoutcome and repeat business far outweigh the strain of hiringsomeone to help me wrap up a project."

Joanne Eglash is the author of How to Write a .com Business Plan: The InternetEntrepreneur's Guide to Everything You Need to Know AboutBusiness Plans and Financing Options.

But What About The (Sick) Kids?

If you have children and they become ill, that can be just aschallenging as getting sick yourself. Jody Lomenzo Bolstad, founderand owner of Richmond, Virginia, public relations firm The WelandGroup, can attest. Ten years ago, when Lomenzo Bolstad gave birthto her daughter, Joanna, a month early, the challenges becameoverwhelming. "I had a difficult labor and delivery," sherecalls. "As a result of a long induced labor, Joanna had acerebral hemorrhage. We went through several hellish days-MRIs,spinal taps and other tests. She had a 10-day hospital stay, duringwhich I stayed at the hospital." For the next six months,Joanna remained on a breathing monitor and required regularcheck-ups.

With several projects outstanding during that time, LomenzoBolstad called on a freelancer to help keep the ball rolling whileshe tended to her baby. And although Lomenzo Bolstad-who also hadhand surgery last year as a result of carpal tunnel syndrome-andJoanna have since recovered, the entrepreneur remains true to thelessons she learned during those earlier experiences."I've learned that you really want clients you can workfor," she says. "Translation: human beings. My clientsget sick. Their kids get sick. They understand when I say'I'm sick.' "

		Learn More Sick or not, you don't have to say yes to every client. ReadWho's In Charge Here?-after all, you're theboss.

Most clients will understand that, provided you'reupfront with them, notes success coach and trainer Annaliese Furnasof Balanced LifeDesign in San Francisco. "I operate on the theory thathonesty is the best policy," she says. "If I'mfeeling miserable but am able to work, I simply explain to theclient that I'm feeling under the weather and ask theirpatience and understanding with my sneezing, sniffling and lowenergy."

And while Furnas also recommends building a network ofcolleagues who can help you complete your projects if needed, shealso advises caution: "[It's] crucial to have connectionswith colleagues you can trust not to steal your business."

If nothing else, an illness can help you weed out undesirableclients. If a client gets angry because you need to tend to yoursick child or make arrangements for a colleague to take over aproject, he or she probably isn't worth your time."We're all human," says Furnas, "and if a clientcan't understand something that basic, then it's not aclient I want to do business with."