Planning for a Crisis is a “Value-Add” to Small Business

Small Business Crisis Preparedness

Remember the Fire Drills of your School Years?  How about the Bomb Threat Drills, Tornado Drills, Campus Alert Drills? These were actions taken in order to test response processes and educate participants. Often the drillers knew what was going on (as they had the handbook) and their drillies, well… they generally complained.

Momentary inconveniences like those mentioned are important to a school, home, or workplace.  Practice exercises are necessary to ensure that people know what to do in case of a real emergency.  Unfortunately the biggest problems seem to arise from a lack of understanding and communication from those “in the know” to those who need to know. As a small business leader it is up to you to make the difference for your organization.

Prior Proper Planning…

The impact to a Small Business of any crisis-related event such as a fire, attack, or storm can be devastating.  Small business owners can, should, and MUST have a plan in place in anticipation of an ‘unfortunate’ event.  It is a process document that needs to be written, memorialized, communicated and rehearsed to and with all parties involved in the operations of your business.  As with military and law enforcement agencies, planning and training for an event will increase competence, response and continuity of operations.

Consider this:  In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, 52% of small & medium-sized businesses in the affected area of our Northeast experienced sales or revenue loss directly related to the storm.  What if that same type of storm hits you next week?  Are you prepared for the loss of power, the loss of phones and Internet?  How about the structural or property damage to your office (be it a home office or rental space)?  What about your employees?  What if they suffer loss or damage and are incapable of getting to work?  Are you prepared to assist them?  Are you prepared to cover for their absence?  Are you prepared to pay them?

Here are some suggestions to consider for  your Small Business Crisis Plan besides the requisite First Aid Kit containing gauze, antibiotic creams and Band-Aids:

 Plan for Protecting Your People

1. Assign employees to specific and critical tasks in the event of a disaster.
2. Communicate and rehearse the roles & procedures for staff.
3. Establish an emergency communication system amongst your staff.
4. Identify and capture the documents that can be readily available to assist you in dealing with your   staff.  These may include a current roster of employees with next of kin, contact information, health issues, living wills, etc.
5. Institute drills of your own design and make sure to have the manual (and red pen) in hand.

Plan for Protecting Your Physical Property

1. First have your Insurance Coverage updated and the contact information & account number for your Insurance Carrier on hand.
2. Create a system for securing files and computer equipment and mobile devices.
3. Expect to be out of power (you may want to invest in a generator).
4. Expect that your cell phones will die or not operate due to busy / down systems (invest in back up batteries or satellite phones).

Plan for Protecting Your Proprietary Information

1.  Critical data and technology policies must be in place, socialized, and tested.
2.  Include your procedures for conducting business in alternative locations.
3.  Memorialize and test back up processes (be they to a server or the Cloud).
4.  Have a secure location for passwords, login information, and other access information.
5. Set up a schedule for backing up your website and social media (LinkedIn profile, Twitter, Facebook Page) in order to quickly rebuild them if necessary

Plan for Protecting Your Paycheck(s)

1. Make sure to have your Banker, Lawyer, Tax Accountant, and Small Business Association contacts noted.
2. Be sure to have access to emergency cash or a line of credit to cover short-term vendor / payroll expense interruptions.
3.  Maintain duplication of accounting and personnel records that allow you to manually pay your employees and vendors if need be.
4.  Make sure to establish backup communication routes to provide ongoing status communications with your clients.

Business continuity is key to surviving a crisis for any enterprise. Besides the potential losses you may encounter, you could also take a serious ding to your reputation if you are unprepared.  There are numerous experts that can help a small business with their insurance, Cloud storage, and security needs… If you are doing business with the federal government, make sure and have those bases covered.  They’ll definitely expect that of you.

Although we can’t prevent natural disasters, terrorist attacks or internal emergencies,  we can learn from those who have been impacted by them and plan accordingly.  As small business owners we are the creators, and disseminators of the crises handbook.  According to a study by Marsh Insurance, “every $1.00 spent in crisis planning is worth $7.00 in losses averted.” So,  Add Value and plan ahead!

Simplifying Connections in the Federal Government

© Capital Connections LLC and Planning for A Crisis is a “Value-Add” to Small Business [May 2014]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Capital Connections LLC and Planning for A Crisis is a “Value-Add” to Small Business with appropriate and specific direction to the original content