Small Business Preparedness – Planning Tool

A mobile team from Tochigi Prefecture plan the next day’s operations in Fukushima.

Photo: John Sparrow / IFRC

Welcome to our Small Business Preparedness Planning Tool

Below are the learning modules to help you begin to take preparedness steps to strengthen your business against hazard risks.

Click on any module below to access the learning content, and download your fillable PDF to complete your business continuity plan at your own pace.

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Intro to Business Continuity Planning

Before you take care of your business, it is essential to learn the steps for personal preparedness. You can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself first.

Let’s review these simple preparedness steps and learn how we can apply it to the hazards you identified as risks in your area.

By practicing these steps you can help your business, staff, and community all become more resilient to disaster.

Intro to Business Continuity Planning

To start taking steps to prepare your business, you must start with understanding your hazard risks and vulnerabilities.

In this module, we'll review recommended actions for different hazards, and learn the steps to complete a risk assessment so you may prioritize your planning efforts.

Taku Yoshida. 27/10/2015. Philippines, Cebu, Daanbantayan, Bateria. Discussing the hazard map. 
Photo by Juan Carlo, Japanese Red Cross Society / Philippine Red Cross
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Organizational Readiness

In this module we'll review what simple information we will need to help us coordinate in a crisis event.

Here we will focus on communication so that we are able to connect with everyone we need.

Leadership & Culture

No matter how well you have thought through or planned for a crisis, the successful recovery of your business needs people to make it happen!

Let's consider some of the basics of leading and developing a team that is invested in success and looking out for signs of potential disruptions.

February 20, 2020. Metepec, Morelos, Mexico. Two years after a powerful earthquake struck Mexico, the American Red Cross, in partnership with the Mexican Red Cross and the Canadian Red Cross, continues to support communities affected by the disaster. Through a series of resiliency activities made possible through financial support from the American Red Cross, people living in disaster-prone communities in Mexico are empowered to learn skills that prepare them for future disasters. From providing hygiene and sanitation education to offering trainings on how to administer first aid, the Red Cross is actively involved in helping to build stronger, more resilient communities across the country.
Mexican Red Cross and American Red Cross workers conduct a walkthrough for the first disaster simulation set to take place on February 20, 2020 in Metepec, a city in Morelos, Mexico. 

Metepec residents are at risk of several potential disasters like volcano eruptions, earthquakes and forest fires. Through support from the Red Cross, disaster response volunteers are equipped with training and skills that allow them to conduct disaster simulations to help prepare their communities for potential disasters. On February 20, 2020, disaster response volunteers hosted their first simulation, which entailed alerting the community about a disaster and the need to evacuate. Disaster response volunteers practiced guiding community members to an evacuation meeting zone, administering first aid, and locating and evacuating the most vulnerable. Photo by Brad Zerivitz/American Red Cross
Photo: Garry Calixte/American Red Cross

Valencia Prisca BRUTUS, Louvemise SENATUS, Marie Josephine BRICE and Jonathan PAUL study at HELP, an organization funded by the American Red Cross in Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince. In addition to providing students with scholarships to study at university, the Red Cross donated a computer lab at HELP with 50 new computers and helped kickstart IT and open-source software curriculum.

People at Work

Sometimes organizations, or even specific functional areas with businesses, get caught up in their own world and work in insolation.

In this module we will review steps to help promote stronger team dynamics and skills.

Networks & Relationships

Positive relationships both within your business and with others can provide valuable support during crises and build your community's resilience.

Let's review strategies to help us learn how to work together during difficult times.

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Take The Next Steps With Your Business Today With Our Free Business Continuity Plan

Now that you have begun your learning journey, download and complete the free Business Continuity Plan so you can start to strengthen your business resilience.

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