“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” – Alexander Graham Bell

This quote is especially true when it comes to crises. Though you may never have a business crisis – fingers crossed – if you do being prepared will ensure you have better success than if you were unprepared for the event. In this article, we will review what a crisis is and how you can prepare for five business crises.

What is a crisis?

According to the online Oxford dictionary, a crisis is a time of great danger, difficulty or doubt when problems must be solved or important decisions must be made.

There are many different crises but we will look at five of the most common ones.

Crisis 1: Natural disaster

In South Africa, we often experience floods, droughts, and wildfires. Depending on your business, these natural disasters will have different impacts on your business. It is important to have a crisis management policy which lets your employees, suppliers and anyone else connected to your business know what you will do in case of one of the events.

Crisis 2: Cyber security breach

With everyone connected to the internet and storing information on the Cloud, you are at risk of cyber security breaches. This could be cryptojacking, cloud, ransomware, internet of things and phishing attacks or attacks from insiders in your business. You must ensure your IT department is up to date with the latest developments and have security in place to protect your and your customers’ data from any breaches. You should also run an annual skills development course for employees to ensure they know what to look out for to help prevent cybersecurity breach.

Crisis 3: Reputational damage

A disgruntled customer has many ways to let your current and potential customers know about the service you gave them. You should take responsibility for the part you may have played in upsetting your client but you should also consider getting lawyers or the police involved if there has been an unfounded reputational attack on your business.

Crisis 4: Violence in the workplace

What will you do if someone comes into your office or workplace and performs a violent act? How will you protect your staff and suppliers? Whether it is a disgruntled employee or customer or supplier, you should have a strategy in place to deal with violent acts and also what you will do after. You could consider offering therapy to your employees who went through the experience.

Crisis 5: Personnel problems

Do you have personnel who have engaged in illegal activities in the workplace or is there a conflict between employees? It is important to have strategies in place to deal with the different situations. You should consider the Basic Conditions of Employment Act before firing someone and you should offer a course in conflict resolution to help resolve conflicts in your business.

By preparing for the five crises, you will be prepared for success should you experience any of them.

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