When I talk to business about their risk planning, they generally haven't thought about it and don't have a plan for what they will do if a crisis happens.

Business continuity planning doesn't sound the most exciting pastime, but as a business owner you will want to plan for what might happen to your business in the event of a crisis and have a plan to ensure that it affects your business for the shortest possible time and that you know what you will do to minimise disruption.

With the threat of Corona Virus and adverse weather being experienced across the South West, the risk of your business being affected in some way by a crisis in the near future, is getting closer.

It doesn't have to be overly complicated for most small businesses.

Start by thinking about what your business does and how it would be affected by the most common type of events; for example extreme weather; health outbreak, major system failure or loss of utilities.

Take each one of those, and understand how it might affect your business. For example, if your staff can't get to work how will you run your business? Do they need to come into work – can you run your business elsewhere?

Can they work from home – if so, how long can you do that for – one or two days or longer. Does your business deliver goods and services to others? If you are involved in critical care, how can you service your customers?

Communication is probably the most important thing in a crisis – the fact that you have thought about it and have a plan will help; but most important is to share that plan.

Do your staff know what to do, or who to contact. Do you have their contact details? If systems go down have you remembered to store their details securely elsewhere. If your mobile phone can't be charged – best not make it that!

Have you got contact information for your keys supplies, critical customers and providers to let them know the situation.

Can you set up a cascade system, so that you agree in advance who is going to communicate what and to whom and what will trigger the "crisis plan" - so that it doesn't all rely on you as the business owner – heaven forbid, you're the one with "flu".

As part of communication, it's also about having accurate information. Pre-arming yourself with resources so that you know how to get the information you need. Below are links to reliable sources of information:

For health and flooding alerts https://www.gov.uk/ or https://www.nhs.uk/ or https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/ - local radio can also be a good source of information, as can your district or local council.

Do you have details for your business insurers? Knowing where you can find that information before your need it can really help when you need to respond quickly.

The most obvious crisis looming is the Corona Virus and many small employers are concerned about how they should deal with staff.

The most important thing to do is to follow the up to date government advice.

You can start now by giving general advice about how to stay healthy, hand washing and hygiene. If you have a sickness absence policy, follow that.

If you have staff who have travelled from an area affected by corona virus and have been advised to self-isolate when they get home, irrespective of whether they have symptoms, best practice advice from ACAS is to allow them to take it as sickness absence or paid holiday. For more information click the red button below.

The best thing to do in a crisis – is have a plan!!