For small businesses, especially those dependent on cash flow to survive, this epidemic may be a killer. The normal period of infection is not known but according to the Center for Disease Control
In general, persons with novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection should be considered potentially infectious from one day before to 7 days following illness onset. Children, especially younger children, might be infectious for up to 10 days.
For further information about H1N1 check out this link to the CDC: Interim Guidance for Clinicians on Identifying and Caring for Patients with Swine-origin Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Infection available at CDC H1N1
As a small business person/owner you need to prepare.
What you do to protect yourself, and employees will not prevent your business from being at risk.
This information may help you deal with the disease and get you, your workers and families immunized, but what about the economic consequences to your business? How did you prepare for Y2K or post 9/11? Are you going to do the same thing?
What did you do for Y2K?
In 1999 I was trained as a Y2K consultant to work with small and midsized business to plan for what was feared to be a potential disaster as the Y2K (millennial) bug hit the nations computer systems. For small business, this could have been real disaster. The purpose of the Y2K consultants was to 1. Help business owner determine if their systems were susceptible to the Y2K problem; 2. If so, to help them prepare a plan for their business if they, their customers, or suppliers would be affected.
It turned out that there was a simple solution for most Small and Med size businesses.
The price of computers and advance in software created an opportunity and reason to buy new software and new equipment. So very few took advantage of the opportunity to do a top to bottom analysis of their business.
What did you about 9/11?
In the Spring of 2003, I went to a training session sponsored by the new Department of Home Land Security. Again the purpose was to train and prepare consultants to help businesses, small, medium and large to prepare for the post 9/11 threat. What Do you know what the threats are to your business? How do you protect against them? What is your plan to survive a repeat 9/11 type event? Again, few small businesses took advantage of the opportunity to plan for the threat. Instead they adopted the herd survival strategy, "don't attract attention to yourself."
What are you doing to prepare for the pandemic?
A pandemic is not a technological problem, nor a security or political problem. H1N1 is an equal opportunity disease. It is a PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM and a species wide biological disease problem.
Have you thought about the risks? Have you planned for the risks?
Here are some of the risks:
1. Key employees come down with the flu and are out of work for 2 weeks. Do you have a plan in place to cover their job responsibilities?
2. 20% or more of your work force is out of work with the flu for a month or longer. Can you still run an effective operation? If not, what is your plan to insure vital operations are not interrupted?
3. 20% or more of your suppliers are unable to fulfill their orders to you and your operations are effected because you don't have the inventory to maintain your minimum operations for more than a month. Do you have sufficient inventory? Do you have the ability to shift suppliers to insure no disruption in your operation? Do you have business disruption insurance and are you covered?
4. 20% or more of your customers are unable or unwilling to make purchases or pay their bills for a month or longer because of the impact of the pandemic on their business or jobs. Do you have enough cash or credit available to cover your operations for an extended period of diminished revenue and negative cash flow?
What are you doing to prepare your business for it and for the collateral damage of the epidemic on your suppliers/customers and community?
