Disasters, natural or otherwise, could ultimately lead to your company’s demise. Fortunately, advance planning can keep you on track to survive and thrive no matter what the future may hold. Here are seven scenarios to be prepared for.
- A natural disaster. To paraphrase the old saying, you can talk about the weather, but there’s not much you can do about it – except have a plan in place in the event a natural disaster damages your business premises. Two tips: Maintain adequate insurance and store valuable business data at a secure off- site location.
- A key employee quits. Cross-training can help you avoid business interruptions if a key employee leaves unexpectedly. You might also want to consider asking key employees to sign a reasonable non-compete agreement to protect confidential information. Typically, these agreements prohibit an employee from working for a competitor for a certain period.
- An employee embezzles company funds. To safeguard your business assets, divide responsibilities so one person doesn’t have complete control over the books. Set up a system of checks and balances. But no matter how many internal controls you have in place, make sure to monitor cashflow and expenditures yourself on a regular basis.
- Your biggest customer leaves. To keep your business from going under if you suddenly lose a major source of revenue, update your marketing plan, stay in touch with former customers, establish an emergency budget, and diversify your revenue stream.
- You become disabled. “Key-person” disability insurance can provide funding to keep your business afloat if serious illness or accident strike the business owner. The policy may also cover employees who are vital to operations.
- Your company or partnership splits up. Draft a buy-sell agreement to ensure a smooth transition due to the sale of a business interest, including a forced sale on the death of one of your shareholders or partners. The agreement can establish the terms of a buy-out and set a value for the respective business interests.
- Your computer system crashes. Extra hardware, such as tablets or laptops, regular off-site backups, and cloud storage for important documents can avoid a crisis when your computer fails.
