Crisis? What crisis? How businesses can prepare for and manage unexpected events

Running a business of any size takes considerable effort, resources, skill and sometimes luck.  And that’s when things are going well.

When things do not go so well, you need all of those attributes and more. Should a problem, issue, incident or worse, crisis, happen in your business how do you resolve it?

That is the aim of a new book* I've just completed.

A crisis is defined as ‘an extremely difficult or dangerous point in a situation’ and as ‘a time of great disagreement, confusion, or suffering.’ 

I’ve worked for over three decades in crisis and reputation management and can attest to those definitions. I’ve witnessed individuals at breaking point, reputations damaged, and brands under pressure.  Some have even disappeared, with others who have survived becoming known for the crisis or issue that affected them, even years later.

So when talking about those experiences with Bite Sized last year, the response to me was: ‘you should write about that.’  So I have.

My experiences of helping people in difficult and even crisis situations is set out in this book. The critical emphasis for me is to be prepared for anything. This might not mean that something happens that you have not foreseen, but you will have knowledge of what to do, and to manage it better than if you had no idea of what to do. And it may result in a better outcome.

My dealings with business of all sizes on such issues sometimes begins with this typical question: what will it cost me to be protected ?  While a smart answer could be ‘what would it cost you not to be protected’ a better answer is set out in the examples in this book. Brands have suffered, reputations have been damaged, with financial consequences (sometime short term admittedly) for some very large businesses.  Businesses globally make trillions, spending something to save both money and your reputation surely has to be a must do.

Why? Well the analysis that I include in the introduction that follows, from 2025, illustrates that many consumers are intolerant of businesses who have problems and do not deal with them well.  Some of the UK’s biggest brands are among them.

The famous Henry Kissinger quote that “there cannot be a crisis next week, my schedule is already full,”  while meant to be ironic is very relevant for today’s incredibly busy business world.  It also seems true of those of you who run businesses that the range of attributes necessary are more challenging than ever. As are those necessary to deal with crises. Einstein once said that “those who manage their way into a crisis are not necessarily the right people to manage their way out of a crisis.” 

Therefore the aim of this guide is to provide practical ways for you to prepare, manage and recover from challenging situations.

To some it may be simplistic or already known guidance, to others it may be useful and practical. Whichever it is to you, I hope it helps in some way.

June 2025

[*You can find more details on the News pages of this site].