What qualifies as a business crisis?

The nature of a crisis can vary widely – from natural disaster, through a leaked memo containing sensitive information to the office next door involving you in their crisis by default. In other words, a crisis can come from almost anywhere but by definition is unexpected and has the potential to have negative consequences. A crisis may affect the safety of staff, the availability of resources, critical systems, shareholders and potentially threaten the mid to long term success or existence of the business.

Here are some tips on what to do if a crisis strikes your business before you have a crisis plan in place.

1: Find out what has happened

This may sound like an odd thing to begin with, but it’s arguably the most important. When a crisis strikes, whatever the cause, it can be hard to get a handle on what exactly has provoked the alert. How have you heard about it? Are your sources reliable? Do you have any staff that can give you eyewitness accounts? Only once you know the true nature of the crisis and its extent can you deal with it appropriately. Separating rumour from fact can be more difficult than you imagine in the immediate aftermath of a crisis.

2. Clearly identify a crisis team and team leader

The key characteristic of a crisis team is that they need to work well together, whilst also having a wide range of skills and knowledge. There must be at least one person with enough authority within the team to make strategic decisions and authorise spending as some crises will necessitate emergency funds to cover accommodation, travel and food for those involved.

The team leader doesn’t necessarily have to be the most knowledgeable about the business, as long as he or she has the ability to stay calm, assimilate information presented by the crisis team, can command respect and act decisively, delegating as necessary. People are likely to be stressed, sometimes panicky – can the crisis team leader handle that?

3. Assess the impact (on your people, assets, customers and reputation)

Once you understand the extent of the crisis, you can evaluate how it will impact upon your business. Are any staff hurt or in danger? Do extra members of staff need to be brought in (because the crisis has happened out of business hours or during a holiday for example)? Do you have any stock that is at risk? Are you still able to provide essential customer services, or will you need to close? How will the press react?

It is important to understand what at this stage is time critical for the business so you can prioritise what is needed to continue operating effectively.

4. Develop an action plan

Having assessed the impact, determining what needs to happen in a methodical way ensures that nothing is left out nor actions duplicated. Most crises involve time pressure; some people refer to a “golden hour” immediately after the crisis has occurred; what you do in that first hour can significantly impact upon the outcome. Don’t underestimate how chaotic things can be during some crises – once immediate responses have been carried out (i.e. evacuation of a building) time taken to lay out a plan could potentially alter the outcome for your business. A plan, however basic, will help ensure there is integration and co-ordination in what happens – and minimise the likelihood of ‘left hand /right hand not talking syndrome’.

5. Develop a timeline of what is happening when

This is clearly going to differ depending on the nature of each crisis, but based on your plan could include events such as arrival of critical staff members, arrival of technical support teams, anticipated restoration of power, broadcast times etc. Outlining when key events are going to happen enables the efficient allocation of resources.

The best crisis teams are able to focus on the future effectively, see needs approaching and prepare for them as well as avoiding issues that inevitably occur along the way. Many times the crisis is just the first in a string of events that ensue as a result of the disruption to normality.

6. Implement the plan

Having developed the plan, the next major challenge is communicating it effectively to those that need to know. This is a real test of your team and, without a pre-determined and rehearsed crisis plan already in place, one of the most difficult areas to manage well ‘on the hoof’. How you talk to staff, executives, emergency services and the many other people who need to know what you are doing and when is critical to your success in managing the crisis and your reputation. At the end of the day, you must DO something. The worst plan is one that arrives too late.

7. Maintain a log of decisions, actions and issues

Maintaining a detailed log of decisions, actions and issues is an important component of crisis management. Not only will it enable you to ensure all actions are completed on a continuous basis and help tie up loose ends when the crisis is over, it may become a legal document backing up accounts of events should litigation ensue. Choose the person to maintain it with care and ensure it is reviewed by the crisis leader on a regular basis.

8. Develop an internal and external communications plan

Communications are critical – brief those who need to know on a regular basis: the media, your staff, stakeholders and customers. However, it is important that the right information reaches the right people in a timely fashion so development of a clear communications plan will support you in achieiving this. Effective communication in the face of crisis can greatly enhance your reputation.

9. Look after your staff and their welfare

Your staff may be coping with shock, stress and more. Ensuring their welfare is clearly within the remit of a responsible employer, but it also means that the crisis won’t be worsened by neglect of their needs. In some instances there can be long term impacts if issues are not dealt with correctly in the early stages.

10. Manage your information

One of the greatest challenges in dealing with a crisis is the management of information as it flows in and out of your crisis team. This is where you develop a clear picture of what is reality and separate fact from fiction. The lynch pin of your response will be centred around the information you receive and how you respond to it so its processing must be fast and accurate. White boards, flip charts and briefings all help.

And when the crisis is over?

On returning to normality, review how you dealt with what happened and learn the lessons for next time. If you are reading this and are lucky enough to have escaped a business crisis so far, do consider developing a crisis plan – the time spent planning is never wasted and will enable a much more effective and controlled response, reducing the strain on your staff – “train hard, fight easy” is a worthwhile maxim in the world of crisis management and is supported by the experience of all those businesses who have gone before you.

People involved in small business have found a powerful marketing tool in these social networking sites.

Among the top social media used by business people today are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. By using these sites, you are able to expose your business to more people, at both a local and international level.

Facebook

Facebook has become highly popular in recent years attracting millions of users from across the globe. This popularity has, in fact, led the site’s management to offer marketing platforms that encourage people to share their business endeavors and build communities as well.

To use Facebook to your advantage, make sure to create an interesting personal profile page. Include photos and business information that will attract visitors and encourage them to read through your profile.

Update your information regularly so that existing and potential clients know what you’re up to. Discuss recent happenings regarding your business and interact with readers who post comments on your page.

Be friendly at all times and don’t forget to create a “fans” page and invite clients to join.

Twitter

In just a few years, Twitter has attracted a steady following that is increasing rapidly as the “buzz” around Twitter spreads. This is the power of social networking sites – they are viral.

One advantage of Twitter over the others is that it lifts the lid on the activities and conversations of other people. What we are seeing today is news being reported on Twitter before the media even has a chance to tell us.

For business people who want to maximize the vast communication potential of this social networking site, it is best to be consistent when tweeting (telling people what you are doing).

This means not only providing information to your followers about what you are up to with your business, but also adding value. You need to share tools, tips and strategies and make your updates interesting and engaging.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an ideal site for entrepreneurs because it gives you the opportunity to grow your business using less of your own money. How? LinkedIn is used by many professionals to search for potential employees and also as a means to expand their business contacts.

Providing a detailed profile (business information and photos) is the best way to expand your network of contacts through LinkedIn.
You can include a link to your website or blog for those people looking to access more information about you and your business.

Interaction is key and you can do this by answering questions that provide valuable and interesting information.

YouTube

YouTube is a phenomenal success in terms of video sharing on the internet. This social networking site has become the Number 2 search engine, behind Google.

If you have not tried live video streaming as a marketing tool for your business yet, it is time to jump in front of the camera. Videos are very powerful tools in drawing online traffic.

Create a short but clear video featuring yourself talking about your business and how you started out. Tell them about your journey, provide them with success stories and share your passion about your business.

Create several short videos (perhaps video seminars you conduct, presentations you make, or other business projects) and upload them on YouTube. Make sure that you post your videos in the category relevant to your business to draw the right target audience.

In using social media to market and improve your business, building trust with your audience is essential. You can only do this by being honest and providing consistently interesting, useful and valuable information. What matters most is that you share your experiences and knowledge. Doing so can influence people’s lives and encourage them to take action.

1. Begin by building your business identity by researching or finding out the best deals and prices in your area. First and foremost, research what people are selling or leasing in your area, the package offers and the like. It will be easier for you to name your prices and products if you know what your competitors are providing. You’d want to be a more affordable option; however, you must also know the right products to feature.

2. If you know what the right prices are for party equipment in your city, it will be easier for you to make a more affordable price list. Customers are more attracted to cheaper and more reasonable solutions so try to make your services exactly what they are looking for.

3. Know what to feature. You must know what products to invest in and what to lease, as well as what to feature and what to buy first. Know what parents are most willing to get for their children or what children prefer to play with.

4. Know your capital. The capital is one of the most important amounts that could help in starting your business. Since you are planning to start a home based business with limited financing, it is important to know what you should rent first or what products to start off with. The easiest way to calculate how much to shell out is by being able to identify what to lease first; hence, once you know what your first few products should be, it will be easier for you to calculate your start up capital.

5. Set up your company’s reservations and delivery system. If your company follows an orderly manner when recording deliveries and reservations, it will be easier for you to meet your customer’s demands. Good planning and an organized system can help your company greatly.

6. Make it easier for you and your customer to agree to the terms in renting products by preparing a clear contract. These kinds of files will make it easier for you to keep up with costs and responsibilities in case complicated situations occur.

7. Tell the world. It is important to get the word out to your neighbors, friends, relatives, co-workers and to everybody else in the city. Advertise your services with the use of various mediums like business cards, flyers, getting a good website and the like. Also, nothing beats the conventional way of telling all your friends.

8. Offer exemplary service. To be able to win and keep good customers, always provide them with the service they will love. Be a good party rentals company and they will keep coming back to you. Also, they will tell their friends on how good your services are.

Not only are we considered the Entrepreneur’s Strategic Partner, we also understand how hard it is to find the right strategic help. Here are the top ten things you need to know about getting the right strategic help for your small business:

1. Know that you make the choice and that choice should be a person and company you respect, admire and feel comfortable with. In order to achieve the goals you set, you have to work with someone who you can trust, and feel comfortable with revealing all of your proprietary information to. Don’t just choose a strategic partner because a celebrity uses them or your best friend uses them – You want to work with someone who takes your business just as seriously as you do. Take the time to evaluate and choose the right strategic partner based on your needs.

2. Don’t get caught up with the trends or latest thing. Instead get caught up with what’s best for you and your business. There are new ideas and programs’ sprouting up every day and it’s easy to get excited or overwhelmed. It’s Ok to stay abreast of the trends, just don’t try them based on your excitement; base it on your strategic direction and most importantly your business model.

3. Only use one resource at a time for business development (infrastructure) help. It’s important to stay focused and not use many different techniques; you have to stick to your vision and apply any advice you get to that vision. Keep in mind that if you’re using three different philosophies coming from three different sources then possibly nothing will work. Don’t make the mistake of trying something without completing it before moving on to the next. Pick a strategic partner, and stick to their philosophy based on the time frame you choose. Give the program a chance before deciding to utilize other programs.

4. Be realistic about the budget you have to hire strategic help. Roughly it will cost you between $75 – $250 per hour to hire a good strategic partner for basic services. For a monthly program your cost will range from $79 to $1200 for a consistent program. If you don’t have some type of budget allotted before you contact a potential strategic partner, it will probably be better to invest in self-paced programs or free local workshops until you can pull together a nice budget.

5. You have to master the art of asking for exactly what you need. When determining the right help from the right source you must do your research so that you can ask the right questions based on what you need. We tend to allow others to dictate what to do, where to go, how to do it, and even tell us why we should do it. Don’t get me wrong these are things that we need and will continue to need; but on the other hand it’s hindered our ability to think for ourselves.

Before you contact a potential strategic partner make sure you know why you’re calling and what you need. If you’re not sure what you need, make sure you tell them exactly that!

6. Realize that you need to build a success team not just a pool of vendors. Try not to only focus on building a list of resources that can help with all aspects of your business. Focus on building a team of experts that understand your vision and what value you bring to your customers. Make sure they get what you do and really understand where you want to go. There are a lot of people out there who are just in it for the money; if you’re not satisfied or are not getting what you signed up for, move on to the next expert. **make sure to get everything in writing when hiring outside resources.

7. Determine and analyze your weaknesses related to your business. As a business owner, it’s imperative to get your skills up to date and to create a format for keeping them up to date as your business evolves. This is not only beneficial for your business but also personally. The top three that I get most of the time when I ask, “What are your weaknesses,” are procrastination, laziness, and ‘I don’t know.’

In reality, these are things that people choose to do or be. We choose to procrastinate, we choose to be lazy, and we choose to say ‘I don’t know.” The point is we never spend enough time on our weaknesses so we end up developing those skill sets, mindsets, etc. that don’t benefit us the most. Take the time to correctly determine your weaknesses as it relates to owning a business. Quick Tip: To make sure you’re determining your true weaknesses; after you name a weakness ask yourself this question, “Is it a choice?”

8. Determine the type of help you think you need. There’s strategic help and there’s advisory type of help. In order to reach your goals and be successful on your terms you need to decipher which help you need and when you need it. An advisor can be on your Advisory Board, they can be your personal coach, or they can be a group of business colleagues you discuss challenges with. Effició has an Advisory Board and a Strategic Partner.

If you choose to have advisors in addition to your strategic partner, keep in mind that you have to maintain control over the advice you get from your advisors and the direction you receive from your strategic partner. Remember, don’t just do something because someone else had success with it; be strategic with your choices and actions and know the difference between how your advisors will help you and how your strategic partner will help you.

9. When you get to where you’re going, where will you be? If you can’t answer this question, you may need to ask yourself a different question: Why are you in business? I’ve said this many times, anyone can start a business, but to succeed and flourish isn’t so easy.

As a small business owner, it’s essential that you establish a vision for your business in order to create the profitable path to your vision. Also, how far do you really want to go? This can be defined on several levels, i.e. how big you want to get, how many employees you want to manage, do you want to be local or global, do you want to retire with this business, how long you want to work in this business, etc.

In order to execute your strategic goals and work efficiently with a strategic partner you have to have some idea of where you want to go and how far you want to take it.

10. Focus on securing a Strategic Partner not just an advisor. As the business world continues to evolve and change, it’s imperative to follow a strategic path that is easily upgradeable, expandable, and flexible. In order to have focus and achieve your ultimate vision you need a good success team; at the heart of this team is your strategic partner.

This person is different than your graphic designer, your attorney, or your accountant. Your strategic partner is not someone who just gives advice and leaves you on your way. Your strategic partner should be someone who holds you accountable for the profitability in your business, someone who holds you accountable for the barriers you need to overcome, and someone who can guide you down a business path that allows you to continually exceed your definition of success. Bottom line, your strategic partner should help you Execute not just make plans and collect information.