_edited.jpg){kind=logo}
What-If Scenario - How Would Your Business Survive In A Wartime Economy?
10/18/21
Editorial Opinion | Businesses | 2021
Requested by a reader, the question was "What do I do with my business if there was ever a war?" We think this is a great question and wanted to respond to it. We hope we never have to use this in real life, better to have it and not need it over needing it and not having it.
Before we start, I want you to understand this article is in a "what-if" scenario, this is not intended to scare anyone or upset anyone. If 2020 taught us anything, it taught us to have a plan of action in place that is known and practiced in case if we ever need it.
Scary as it may seem if you have watched the news lately it is something that many business owners are thinking about, even if they are not talking to others about it. For many business owners the term "wartime economy" may seem like a foreign term. Let's first discuss what a wartime economy is in the first place:
What is a "War Economy"
A war economy or wartime economy is the set of contingencies undertaken by a modern state to mobilize its economy for war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a "system of producing, mobilizing and allocating resources to sustain the violence." That means that some businesses could get called to produce things needed in a war situation. Things include more than weapons, it also means medical, food, housing, and more. Things that may have been purchased easily in the past may have to be made. Those items become very high in demand and the surge creates a lot of work for the suppliers,
Tips and Facts:
Day to Day life would continue, some staff in the event of war would get called to active duty, and you should be supportive of them and their families.
Identify ways you can build more revenue streams in your current business.
We doubt there would be a war on our soil, but if there ever was, you will need to take security measures to protect your facility and staff.
Have file backups for anything you have stored on a cloud server in case that server was to be disabled.
Have a place outside of your facility to meet staff or vendors predetermined in the event you need it.
Having a secondary WiFi mobile connection and a generator is always a good idea, and are helpful in power outages or internet outages.
Have a supply of flashlights, batteries, and a battery-operated AM/FM radio so you can assess any situation on hand.
Work with fire and police to express special concerns.
Stock inventory in multiple locations and try to keep it as full as possible.
Keep a copy of your contacts on paper offsite in case there was any loss of internet or phone towers.
