According to latest news reports, more than 350 people have died of “swine flu” in the UK. You might wonder what that has to do with small businesses? Amazingly, swine flu can be a threat for many small businesses simply because it can cause a business interruption if key personnel are its victims.

Most people think business shutdowns occur because of natural events such as floods or man-made events such as fires or even terrorist strikes. However, there are any number of things that can cause shutdowns that will affect small businesses, which are especially vulnerable to disruptions. Swine flu affecting key staff, snowstorms blocking roads, a sudden power outage, staff resignations, problems in the supply chain, there are several ordinary events that could cause business interruption, posing a serious threat to the firm’s continuination in business.

Most small businesses ignore business interruption insurance because they operate on very thin margins and usually have a hand-to-mouth existence. Under these circumstances, they tend to see no need for business interruption insurance beyond the regular coverage against fire, floods, etc.

Small business owners who neglect to take out adequate business interruption insurance fail to realize that when the business is shutdown due to unexpected events, there is a two-fold impact: on the one hand, there is a loss of income due to the shutdown and on the other hand, regular expenses remain! You still have to pay things like employees’ salaries, rent, mortgages, taxes, etc.

It is impossible to be prepared for every eventuality but small business owners need to have a two-pronged strategy to protect their businesses. They should have adequate business interruption insurance coverage. They should have a business continuity plan in place so that the business can be up and running as soon as possible after a disaster has struck.