3 Ways SMEs Can Deal with Business Income Interruptions

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There’s a lot to worry about as a business owner, but one of the most common concerns revolves around two words: what if?

These are the two words that can easily harm your confidence, especially if you’ve been building well and you’ve got a steady income stream coming in. What if something goes wrong? What if a fire damages your commercial property, or a customer falls over while shopping inside your store? 

All of these incidents can lead to business income interruptions, which can ultimately halt your operations, damage your reputation, and potentially even threaten the survival of the business itself. 

But if you know how you’re going to deal with the interruptions before they even happen, you can give yourself peace of mind. Below, we’re going to offer 3 ways you can deal with the ‘what ifs’, giving you the best strategies to protect your business and keep things running smoothly. With the first being the most important.

Make Sure You Have Insurance

The bottom line is, you never know what’s going to happen. While you might put a lot of resources into protecting your commercial property or training your staff, there’s every chance unforeseen events can still occur, and that’s why attaining the right insurance is so important. 

Something like BOP insurance (Business Owner’s Policy) can be perfect for combining both general liability with commercial property insurance, giving you all the necessary protections under one cohesive plan. What’s more, it only takes a few minutes to get a BOP insurance quote that suits your company, so there’s really no excuse for leaving your business uncovered. 

Develop a Business Continuity Plan

Even with insurance on your side, however, you need to have a business continuity plan in place to deal with the fallout. Let’s say your property has been damaged by a fire – insurance can help cover business income interruptions, but it won’t cover disruption to the business itself. To deal with that, you’ll need backup processes, alternative workspaces, and clear communication strategies to keep operations moving smoothly and efficiently. 

This isn’t just important for you, but the customers too. While most customers should be forgiving, there will be some expecting timely service and clear updates on everything that is happening – and if you don’t have those updates, there’s every chance they might look elsewhere. The world of business can be tough, so keeping continuity is key to keeping your grip on the reins. 

Diversify Your Revenue Streams

One last way to deal with business income interruptions is to already have alternative revenue streams in place. Don’t rely on just one product or service. If you’re in the position to do so, it can be a great idea to expand your offerings and customer base to cushion the impact if one area is affected. For instance, if you primarily sell in-store, then why not start developing an online sales channel? Something that can keep running if your physical location faces issues. 

Similarly, you might explore subscription services, offering your customers a new way to access your products or services predictably, even if supply chain delays or staffing shortages are disrupting your usual operations. By diversifying your output, not only are you protecting yourself in advance of an income interruption, but you’re also scaling your business and making it more visible to new customers. That’s what the plan should be anyway, so it’s a good idea to start as soon as you can to keep your business as secure as possible.

ConclusionThere are other ways to deal with business income interruptions, of course. Maintaining an emergency fund can be a good idea to cover essential expenses, building strong supplier relationships can help keep things flexible, and investing in new tech to operate virtually can reduce downtime if a physical location is compromised. But whatever you do, it’s important to do it now, before the incident has occurred, giving yourself the peace of mind to stop focusing on the ‘what ifs’, and instead focus on growing your business with confidence.