It is often the unexpected that shapes the future of a business. A friend of mine who owns a small electronics business found this out to his cost recently when a flood ruined his entire stock (electrical equipment and water have never been particular good bedfellows). In fact, the flood damage was so bad that the only thing to survive was the industrial racking the company uses to store its equipment on.

Of course, these things happen in both life and business from time to time. But what made this particularly galling was that my friend's company had only just moved to these premises. The move had come about after three or four years of exceptional growth which had rendered the company's old premises too small. And it was a bold move, recognizing both where the company had come from and where it intended to go to. Not only were the new premises bigger, they were also in a better location and much more smartly fitted out ? a deliberate ploy to help impress potential new clients. It also represented a huge financial investment, not only because the business had to be moved lock, stock and barrel to the other side of town, but also because a great deal was spent on new infrastructure, not least the aforementioned industrial racking. In fact, the need for more storage space had been one of the biggest reasons for relocating the business and therefore the investment in new and improved industrial racking had been substantial.

There is never a good time to get news such as this, but it always seems to happen at the worst possible moment. Having spent the previous week overseeing the move ? in particular the construction and placement of the industrial racking ? my friend was looking forward to spending a weekend relaxing and recuperating, ready for the week of adjustment ahead in the new premises. So the last thing he wanted to hear at 6am on Sunday was the phone ringing. On the other end was a very panicky office manager from the company that occupied the offices above my friend's new premises (which are on the ground floor).

He reported that the fire brigade had called him in the middle of the night because they had been called out to the office after a passer-by had noticed water flowing out of the building from under the front door. A pipe had burst on the first floor of the building, probably some time the day before, and the steady flow of water for over 24 hours had caused a substantial amount of damage. Of course, being on the ground floor, my friend's business had been worst hit. Bizarrely, despite the fact that all his entire stock of electronics was in there, it was the industrial racking that first popped into his mind ? just because so much had been invested in it only a few days earlier.

When my friend arrived he found that his entire stock was a write off. Of course, the company whose pipe had burst were fully insured, but that was little compensation for the lost business while everything was cleaned up. The only consolation was that the industrial racking ? the most important piece of infrastructure in the building ? had survived without any damage at all.