Business Emergency Response Plan The novel coronavirus outbreak has fast developed into a global health crisis and has greatly affected the world economy. Not only this, but it has also proved to become a challenge for most of the businesses worldwide. Small businesses have shut down temporarily, and many businesses are laying off employees, leading to a rise in unemployment rates. The coronavirus outbreak is moving quickly and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared coronavirus an epidemic and an international public health emergency. The economy has been affected by the outbreak in several ways—the stock market has taken a huge hit, the travel industry has been badly damaged, customers are buying less, several businesses have shut down temporarily or permanently. But for small businesses, there could be long-term effects on daily life and work in local communities. Such an outbreak can affect your business, employees, customers and ultimately your revenue. The most obvious way a pandemic affects businesses is the time off taken by employees. The sick days taken by employees can cost a business thousands of dollars. As much as a pandemic impacts the employees, it affects your customers too. A pandemic will have a tremendous impact on your customers’ purchasing behavior—you may lose customers or (depending on your business) you may see a surge in online orders. Furthermore, your business and revenue will take a hit. You’ll need to reallocate how you’ll be investing your company’s time and money during the pandemic. Aside from the pandemic affecting your business, your business will influence your customers and your community. For example, during a pandemic, the way you normally conduct business might become a health risk. Many of your policies will need to change to avoid the risk of spreading the disease. You may, for instance, require employees to work remotely. That’s why the attitude of a company’s leadership towards dealing with pandemics is critical in controlling its outcome. Communicating the steps your business is taking to prevent contamination could be the first step you take.
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