At some stage of running your business you are going to encounter problems. The level of impact that they have on your business will depend to a large degree on what contingency plans you have in place to deal with them. Problems will not just be financial. They could be non-financial as well but have just as devastating an effect as financial problems.

According to a report published by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) most firms have no proper plans in place to protect their assets and staff in the event of a major disruption to their business and this is an area of strategic planning that is often ignored.

Problems can be minimised before a crisis occurs, mainly through forward planning. You will need to devise and implement everyday business procedures to minimise the chances of a crisis occurring in the first place. You will also want to work out what you should do in particular crises so you have a ready made action plan which you use immediately rather than having to make quick decisions in times of stress.

The important part of planning is to take time to identify the possible crises that may affect your business. Think through why they might occur and how you can prevent them from happening. Consider how they would affect you and what has to be done to put things right if they happen despite your precautions.

For example, what would you do if:

	Your premises caught fire and your equipment was damaged beyond repair?
	A key member of staff goes on long-term sick leave?
	Your IT system is affected by a computer virus and your customer database or financial information is deleted?
	A key customer defaults on payment causing severe cash flow problems?

It is absolutely essential that you have some form of contingency or disaster management plan which can be put into action as soon as a crisis occurs.

PK Stone Consulting can help by working through the potential sources of crisis that could affect your business and helping you develop a Crisis Management Plan which gives you peace of mind and sensible business procedures to follow which have already been tried and tested.