posted on November 10, 2009 17:36
By Dace Koenigsknecht
Economic Restructuring Specialist
Michigan Main Street Center
Michigan State Housing Development Authority
I digress in this blog, away from my series on defining Economic Restructuring to a subject both overdue and yet timely. Equating, for a moment, that a continuity plan is to small-business like a will is to my life, then this is a subject I know all too well. With each life event the conversation arose; from marriage and the birth of kids, to cancer and numerous ‘young’ deaths this year. Yet…the will has not been written.
Much is the case, I imagine, for small-business owners and managers everywhere; I’ll think about it once I get the doors open, or I don’t have the money right now to worry about that, or whatever. Why wait until the soaked sandbags prevent you from opening the doors or a fire takes the inventory you were going to sell to customers? Now is the time to start thinking about the welfare of your family, your employees, and your business.
I have purposely refrained from referring to this topic as disaster planning, as that name may be part of the problem. A disaster always happens to someone else, in a town not-here, and to people that should have been more prepared. A disaster…just seems so big and unlikely…like the negative side of winning the lottery.
However, we all know that Mother Nature is unpredictable; rivers will rise past the 100-year plain, tornadoes will erase towns from the map, and cancer will take bread-winners from our midst. She not only works in the macro, with large storms that can be physically rebuilt after, but she also works in the micro – viruses, bacteria, molds, cancers. The silent ‘disasters’ that cannot be seen coming on the horizon…or can they?
I mentioned above that this post was overdue, mainly due to the large scale natural disasters of the past few years – an increase in hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and the like. However, it’s also timely in that we are mid-wave in the swine flu flood, awaiting an early crest of illness in a to-be-long flu season. Before this, you recall, avian flu scared the eastern world but left us relatively untouched, reinforcing the idea that it only happens elsewhere. If this current ‘pandemic’ is anything, it should be a wakeup to small-business to be prepared.
* Are you ready for you or your employees, or any of your families, to be sick enough that the doors might not open for a day – or several?
* What will the lost income do to your business and those that rely upon it?
* Do you, and your key employees, have the proper medical insurance? …Lost-income insurance? ...Insurance to cover inventory spoilage?
* Do you even know who your key employees are?
* What are your vital business operations, and can they be done offsite? How will payroll continue?
* Who are your critical suppliers and customers? Do they have continuity plans?
As a small-business owner/manager, or even an employee of one, it is important to identify the staff, materials, procedures and equipment that are absolutely necessary to keep the business operating. Much of this preparation will cost nothing but time, and you have a lot more of that right now than you will in the midst of a crisis. See www.ready.gov for lots of free information on continuity planning – both personal and small-business.
As for me, I’m off to download will templates…