DESCRIPTIONS

Who will benefit when your business is destroyed by a major calamity? Nobody . . . except possibly a competitor! Spend 15 minutes with the three questions that make up the guts of your emergency preparedness plan, and you’ll see how easy, inexpensive and important having a workable plan can be. Whether you own a small-to-medium size business (SMB) or are employed by one, your livelihood is directly tied to the business. Your life and those around you may be, as well. We have all seen these blunt realities up close now, due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, many small businesses in the U.S. do not have a viable plan, putting them in danger of complete failure in the face of ever more frequent disasters. Why this failure to plan? The reasons we hear most often: “It’s just too complicated and I don’t know where to start.” “Too expensive. We don’t have the time or money to spend on a consultant.” “Negative thinking – I’d rather plan for success than dwell on bad things that might never happen!” So here’s how this book challenges these “reasons.” Yes, business executives (including solopreneur professionals) are busy. They typically don’t have time or confidence to create a complicated plan or even delegate it. Emergency Planning for Small Businessstarts with a simple, three point outline and builds from there. It even includes a guide to delegating. No, you don’t need an expensive consultant You have all the expertise you need working with you right now. And using this team you will overcome one of the biggest emergency challenges. In major disasters where communications are destroyed, employees feel the need to leave work, find a way to get home, and make sure everyone is OK. This overshadows the need to stay and help save the business. If they helped build the plan, they will have the confidence to stay. Best news of all? Inexpensive and proven answers are available to overcome the negatives. First, the step-by-step process emphasizes the value of training programs like FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT and Workplace CERT) training programs. These courses are available at no or low cost across the U.S. The reality is that in a major event, people get hurt. Employees with no training don’t know what to do first. The bigger the event, the longer it takes for official fire and rescue teams to arrive. This means that you, neighbors and fellow employees are the real “first responders.” CERT training turns more people into effective on-site first responders who can make a big difference in those critical first minutes and hours. After life-saving efforts, communications are the most important element of your plan. Crisis communications are not optional! Emergency Preparedness for Small Business approaches this challenge with recommendations for managing contact within the company and with the outside world. Saving lives and working as a team are central themes of our entire Neighborhood Disaster Survival Guide series, which includes planning and building teams for homeowners, apartment and condominium residents and mobile home communities. The business community has a different set of challenges, of course, but the impediments are pretty much the same. The books address these issues squarely. They are an easy read. They offer many checklists and suggested procedures. The book for small business even includes a "secret weapon" that co-author Krueger learned about as a Counterintelligence Agent during the Cold War era . . . so simple even military brass adopted it. The authors say, "Our goal is simple -- to increase readiness by building teams connecting businesses with their neighborhoods and the residential neighborhoods of their employees. We call it a 'wholistic' approach to survival."