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Business Tip of the Month

Business Tip
of the Month
For the month of December 2005


Could your business survive a flu pandemic?

The nation is just beginning to discuss the possibility of a flu pandemic; that is, a worldwide outbreak of a new and lethal strain of influenza. Nobody knows when a pandemic will occur – it could be within a year or within 20 years. But medical experts seem certain that a pandemic will happen sooner or later. Three pandemics occurred in the last century. The most serious, in 1918, killed tens of millions of people around the world.

The U.S. government has started to plan for the consequences of a pandemic. But in the chaos that would accompany a serious outbreak of flu, your business can’t rely only on the government. At this point, it’s probably too early to make concrete plans. But it’s not too early to start thinking about the possible effects on your business and how you would deal with them.

Consider the following issues:
Loss of employees. How would you cope if perhaps 25% of your employees were sick and unable to report for work? How would your business be affected?
Quarantined employees. What would happen if a significant number of your employees were quarantined and unable to report to work? Could they work from home? It’s quite possible that compulsory quarantine would be imposed if an area is affected by an outbreak.
Loss of a supplier. How would you be affected if a major supplier lost employees and cut back production? How much inventory do you keep on hand?
Disruption in shipping. A pandemic could well disrupt transportation and shipping. This could affect both your supplies of materials and your ability to ship a product.
Loss of communications. In a worst case, telephone and/or Internet service could be interrupted. How would this affect your ability to do business?

The potential problems and the solutions to them are different for every business. There are certainly no easy answers. But the businesses that come through a pandemic in the best shape will be those that have done their planning! Make a start by assessing your vulnerabilities and thinking of possible responses.

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