Imagine, as you’re trying to get your business moving forward again, if you had had a plan to mitigate the consequences of the shutdown. Or some other terrible interruption to the business.
One thing I think every business owner can say about the current economic meltdown is, “I wish I had…..” Possible answers. Stashed an emergency fund away. Studied my insurance policy and understood exclusions. Been prepared to board my business up quickly if needed. There are literally dozens of other “I wish I had”s.
Therefore, I’d like to suggest you take some time to think about how to prepare for future business interruptions. If you’re not located near the cost, a hurricane is an unlikely serious risk. So step one should be to try to think about what could really happen. We know how a “stay at home order” could shut you down. We are also painfully aware of the risk large scale protests can bring to your business’s well being.
It is no small task to try to imagine everything bad that can happen in life or business. I’m not suggesting anyone do that. But look at what could cause your business to have to shut down for any period of time. There are businesses that have thrived during the pandemic. Some because they were prepared and were positioned to capitalize on any opportunities that arose.
A great place to start in this exercise of preparing for what could be next is to create a checklist. Airline pilots have emergency checklists for everything the engineers can think of that might happen. It is the difference, in many cases, between recovery and crashing and burning. A check list of things to do in a business emergency could do the same for you. To learn how a better sales team can insulate your business from catastrophe, click HERE.
