FREE 10+ Small Business Contingency Plan Samples in MS Word | Google Docs | Apple Pages | PDF

When running a business, it is hard to avoid any internal and external problems that may affect its stability and disrupt its normal operations. Examples of such are change management, economic factors, environmental issues, and natural disasters. All these are impossible to avoid and it is important that businesses would always consider the possibility of these happening. That being said, a contingency plan is thus developed by companies to ensure that a business can still continue to operate despite an adverse event. Some would think contingency plans are only suitable for big business enterprises whose losses may be far more significant than smaller companies. But that would not always be the case since any loss whether you run a big or small business can always affect a company. So, it is equally important that small companies develop their own small business contingency plan as well. Read more about this below and to start with your own contingency plan we have several free small business contingency plan samples made available for download on this page.

10+ Small Business Contingency Plan Samples

1. Small Business Contingency Plan Template

2. Small Business Contingency Plan

3. Small Business Decision Contingency Plan

4. Covid-19 Small Business Contingency Plan

5. Small Business Risk Contingency Plan

6. IT Small Business Contingency Plan

7. Small Business Emergency Contingency Plan

8. Small Business Operations Contingency Plan

9. Small Business Management Contingency Plan

10. Small Food Business Contingency Plan

11. Small Business Services Contingency Plan

What Is a Small Business Contingency Plan?

Whenever something dire and unexpected happens that would compromise a small business’ daily operation, a contingency plan should help it stay afloat. A small business contingency plan is an initiative and set of actions that should be taken if an unforeseen event occurs. This plan should be able to identify the risk and outline several steps that will enable management and its employees to take on when faced with those risks. More importantly, this will limit any further financial loss and to avoid the company from completely shutting down. Think of it as a backup plan, something to prepare the small business in an event of an emergency or unexpected situation that is beyond anyone’s control.

How To Create a Small Business Contingency Plan?

One perfect example of an unforeseen event is the COVID-19 pandemic which plunged the world and cities into forced lockdowns thus compromising a lot of businesses. Even if you run a small business enterprise, you have to be prepared on how to deal with such a catastrophe. Let’s say you run a small restaurant, the risk of shutting down is evident since customers are unable to dine physically in your shop. So, what other alternatives can you offer to help continue running the business? This is where a contingency plan comes into place. This plan will help you avoid the risk of going bankrupt, and save you time and money since you have already planned this in advance. To start working on that small business contingency plan here are several tips that can help you.

I. Determining the Risk

You need to determine the possible risks that will impact your small business which may bring its normal operations to a halt. For example, you run a grocery store in an area prone to flooding or earthquakes that can damage your property or goods. Identifying the various risks associated with the business you are running will help you think of various ways or solutions that can minimize unnecessary expenses and keep your company afloat.

II. Analyzing the Impact

Impact analysis will help you forecast possible outcomes of one or more of your business functions and processes. Conducting this kind of analysis will give you an estimate of the possible financial loss that you will be experiencing, determine the expenses incurred, what which operational function will be severely affected. Through this, you will be able to come up with effective recovery strategies that can help your company bounce back despite the unfortunate event that has occurred. Don’t also forget to expect the timing of such events, for example, a natural disaster such as snowstorms are normally forecasted in certain periods, with this you will be able to plan things accordingly.

III. Contingency Plan

With all the right information in place, it is time to start developing your contingency plan which will ensure the continuity of your business operations. Make sure to explore all possibilities and solutions that can help solidify your plans. Also, don’t just think of one solution for every problem, always think out of the box and develop other alternatives in case one fails. It is hard to predict how long a possible pandemic or disaster can take a toll on any small business enterprise. So develop several steps for immediate actions as well as for post-event actions.

IV. Communicate Your Plans

Let your employees be part of the plan and properly assign their roles and responsibilities. Be sure to properly communicate the contingency plan to your staff most especially for those who are implementing it.

V. Monitor and Update

We all live in a fast and ever-changing environment so it is highly important to monitor your surroundings, keep up with the latest trends as new risks and problems are bound to happen anytime. If you notice in another city or country and someone who is running a similar business as you may be experiencing a new kind of problem that you have not included in your contingency plan. So, observing the impact it has caused will help you make changes and update your small business contingency plan.

FAQs

You do not want to risk losing your business just because of a natural disaster or perhaps when there is a delay in the supply chain. Big or small businesses must always learn to expect the worst and plan ahead of time. Start working on that small business contingency plan now, and to make it easier for you to do make use of and download our sample templates above.