Business leaders don’t like to think about the disasters that could befall their enterprises. But they should. Catastrophes aren’t just a small risk in the background, but a set of circumstances that impact most companies at some point during their lifetimes. Just look at what’s happened during the recent pandemic. Practically every business was hit hard.
Disasters that Could Bring Down Your Business
In this post, we’re going to discuss some of the common disasters that bring down businesses so you can start preparing now to avoid them.
You Get Sued
Our litigious culture means that every business needs liability insurance. Without it, you could have to stump up the entire cost of compensation for somebody who hurts themselves on your property.
Payouts can run into the millions of dollars. So a single case could effectively bankrupt your business and leave you personally liable if you didn’t purchase cover when you should have done.
People Start Bad-Mouthing You Online
Thanks to social media, companies must now invest enormous energy avoiding negative publicity. But that’s easier said than done. Nothing is stopping a customer posting a negative comment about your brand. If other users find what they say interesting, then it can snowball and you can wind up with a full-blown crisis on your hands.
Today, many companies use social media management companies to mitigate this risk. They hire professionals to monitor all brand mentions and then step in when something looks like it is going to blow up.
You Get Hacked
Hackers can also bring businesses to their knees. Just look at what happened to Experian. Overnight it lost millions of records to online gangs and a huge percentage of its credibility
Getting hacked can damage your business in myriad ways. Hacked brands can lose confidential data, open themselves up to litigation and be on the receiving end of fines.
The best way to mitigate the risk is to put cybersecurity measures in place. These could include:
- Training employees on the importance of securing their devices
- Installing antivirus software onto your network
- Getting a managed security service provider to monitor your networks for suspicious activity
- Teaching employees to regularly change their passwords and never follow email links that might be phishing attempts
Your Software Fails
The biggest companies in the world often experience software outages. Google, for instance, recently saw Gmail and Docs go down. And in the last month, Microsoft saw Teams go down for a time – resources that millions of businesses rely on to carry out their operations.
When a large company’s software fails, it can often recover. But when things go wrong for smaller brands, it’s easy for customers to go elsewhere.
Technology Changes
Lastly, your business could become the victim of technological change. If it does, it won’t be the first firm in history to go bankrupt this way. Many of the biggest names in history are no longer with us because of the disruptive power of innovation.
Continually scan for developments that could affect your industry. If possible, try to get on the leading edge of change. Don’t be a follower.