Every business should be aware of the fact that a crisis can strike at any time, leaving devastating results to follow. A crisis management plan is the best way to successfully prepare yourself and your employees in case of a crisis occurrence within the business.
A crisis can range from a simple business social media account being hacked to credit card fraud damaging your customers, reputation, and costing you hundreds to thousands of dollars.
“Failure to plan is planning for failure”, and this is especially true when it comes to small businesses. In business, it is always best to set up plans and systems which in return save you from failure in the future.
The Essentials of a Plan
A crisis management plan needs to be well-organized and easy to follow through. While plans for every business niche and culture will vary, there are some fundamentals that need to be taken in consideration when creating a plan to be rescued from disaster.
Notify Your Customers. The right thing to do in the time of a business crisis is to come clean and immediately notify your customers. If your company has been hacked and credit card information has been stolen, customers will be thankful to know where it’s from so they can also take personal actions to stop it while you follow through with your crisis plan. The best judgment of character comes in the time of crisis, and your customer will know your business is trustworthy and reliable by notifying the public instead of hiding it.
Stay Calm. When situations go amiss, you may find it hard to keep calm while stressing over the crisis. Stay calm and show your employees the importance of keeping composure to ensure the plan can still run in a functional manner.
Operate Normally. It may seem tempting to shut down daily functions and ‘go dark’ during a time of crisis. Make sure your business is operating normally and still completing important tasks to never miss a step when the crisis heals.
Benefits of a Plan
Earlier Actions Can Be Taken
If your business is equipped with a crisis management plan, actions to stop the crisis can be taken earlier on. This lessens the devastation that the event might cause within your business.
Peace of Mind
Having a plan provides your business and its employees with the security and peace of mind it needs to stay functioning properly during a crisis. This will help to stay organized, calm, and efficient when your business needs it the most.
Less Time to Recover
A crisis won’t last forever. When you have a plan and take action upon it, the recovery time your business needs subsequent to a crisis lessens. Your business can be back to normal and up and running in no time.
InConfidence can help save your business from crisis by providing effective solutions for plan management. The best time to call us isn’t after a crisis strikes, it’s now.
