Crisis Management
Crises can arise at any moment and last for a short or extended period of time. If you want your small business to survive any type of unforeseen downturn, the easiest thing you can do is to make sure you are prepared at all times. Here are some tips to help you plan for business longevity despite challenging circumstances.
Preparing Your Business for a Crisis
Since most crises come without warning, you don’t want to find yourself caught off guard. The best thing you can do to make sure your business is able to continue to operate is be ready for whatever comes your way. Here are some steps you can take.
Assess your business and determine areas of vulnerability and where improvements could be made if you were to face a sudden downturn. Do not be complacent. Make sure you are “shoring up your defenses,” even in good times, as you never know when things might take a turn for the worse. Think about the worst case scenario and how you would develop a plan to handle it.
Take a look at your budget. Financial resilience is the key to making it through a crisis. The average small business has only enough cash to keep things running for 27 days. Make sure you’ve set aside an emergency fund and have identified areas where you can make improvements, cut costs, and shift funds to what’s most important in keeping your employees and business afloat.
Speak to your financial advisor, lender, and or accountant about securing an extra line of credit or determining what steps you need to take to ensure you have access to extra cash when you might need it the most.
Create a crisis handbook with detailed plans and actions that you and your staff will take in the event of a crisis, along with the actions you’ll need to take when the crisis has ended. Stock up on basic supplies and things you’ll need for a safe return to work for yourself, your employees, and your customers.
Revisit your digital development and marketing strategy plan, and ensure your business is able to quickly pivot and move to functioning solely online. Do you have an online shop that needs dusting up, or have been meaning to get electronic gift cards set up for your business? Now’s the time to get these types of options ready.
Check out more information on how to design a marketing plan for your business here!
What to do When the Crisis Hits
By this point, you’ve already taken steps to put a plan in place for your business in the event that something does happen. Here’s what you should do when a crisis does indeed occur.
- Establish safety protocols and clearly communicate with your employees and customers. Reassure your staff and implement the plans you laid out in your crisis handbook.
- Launch your business online. Make sure you’ve taken the steps to ensure your digital presence is strong and that your website is ready to handle an uptick in traffic. Don’t stop marketing!
- If you can’t do business as you’ve normally done, is there any way you can pivot to something new or benefit your community? If you decide to pivot, be sure to promote it broadly and communicate your change to your community and staff. Take the time to engage with other small business owners in your community to learn how they’re shifting and share best practices and ideas on how your community can move forward together.
- Seek financial support early on if you have any inkling that your business will not be able to make it through an extended crisis. Reconnect with your lenders and financial institutions to make sure you’ve evaluated the options best suited for you to take.
- Protect your assets, valuables, and your employees. Ensure that you can operate your business without putting yourself or your employees in harm's way. Also, make sure any valuables or assets are safe, including any stored data on computer hardware and devices.
What to do After the Crisis
The crisis has abated and it’s time to reopen your business. Read below to learn more about what you should be thinking about and doing to ensure a smooth transition back to normalcy.
- Make sure it’s safe to reopen. Your employees and customers are your number one priority. If you’ve experienced a natural disaster, make sure your business is physically safe to reopen. If a public health crisis has occurred, ensure that you follow all the guidelines from local, state, and federal authorities, and operate with strict hygiene measures in place. If your business is unable to do so, consider moving to a different location or continue to operate fully online until your business space is ready to reopen.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate! Once you’ve established that it’s safe for your business to be open to staff, make sure you communicate early and often. Let your customers know what’s happening too. If you’re nearing a reopening date, generate buzz online with social media posts and emails.
- When the time comes to officially reopen, consider holding a grand opening event and offer incentives for getting customers back in the door. Generating excitement and a return to normalcy will surely be great for yourself and your business, but also for your employees and customers.
Crises can come with plenty of warning or at a moment’s notice. They can be natural disasters, public health crises, pandemics, or cyber-attacks. Regardless, they cause interruption to service and have the potential to create economic downturn for short or long periods of time. The best thing you can do for your business is to remain vigilant and be prepared. It’s always better to err on the side of caution and take early preventive measures if you feel like a threat or crisis is looming. You’ll be glad you did after it ends and your business is still operating or even thriving.
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