Last year my business failed. And it hit me quite hard.

There were external factors involved in the run-up to the failure. I could have better anticipated and prepared for them had I taken the time to plan in advance.

I've since found three strategies that will help me plan for failure in my next business:

1. Fear Setting for your business

The Stoic practice of premeditatio malorum - the premeditation of evils - forms the foundation of Tim Ferriss' Fear Setting exercise.

It's a simple three-page exercise to help you make a decision and hard choices.

"Fear-setting has produced my biggest business and personal successes, as well as repeatedly helped me to avoid catastrophic mistakes."
- Tim Ferriss

2. Pre-Mortem

I was introduced to this strategy on The Knowledge Project podcast. By reverse-engineering the failure your business, you determine what decisions and actions lead to failure.

This process helps you identify potential pitfalls and reduce the chance of failure.

"The premortem operates on the assumption that the 'patient' has died, and so asks what did go wrong."

- Gary Klein

3. Disaster Management

It sounds extreme because it is. Disaster Planning is used by governments, the military, and big corporates to prepare for unplanned incidents like natural disasters, cyber-attacks, and other disruptive events.

By planning in advance for these events they are able to avoid or mitigate negative outcomes.

For my next business

I will include a combination of Fear Setting and Pre-mortem as part of the ongoing business planning and strategy.

Would this have saved my last business? Perhaps. It might just have drawn out the inevitable ending.

What that experience and the subsequent learnings have taught me, however, is that you're better prepared for failure if you plan for it.