The Risk and Crisis Handbook
Management · Nº 63
The Risk and Crisis Handbook
What Could Break Your Business, and Your Plan B
You know what could sink your business. It's just never been written down.
24 tools to list what could break your business, build a plan B for the biggest risks, and know who does what in the first hour of a crisis, with a spreadsheet and a worked example.
You get 24 tools: a risk inventory and matrix, single points of failure, plan B, insurance, a one-page continuity plan, a crisis team, crisis messages, and an annual review. Plus a spreadsheet with 10 working tabs and 12 ready-made texts.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
One customer brings in a third of your revenue. One person knows how to do a job nobody else can, and hasn't taken a real vacation in years. The files live on one computer, in one office, and the login for the important stuff sits in somebody's drawer. Plan B exists, sort of. It lives in your head, shows up at 2 a.m., and is gone by breakfast. Nothing has gone badly wrong yet, which is exactly why none of it is written down.
THE SPREADSHEET
Risk map spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
The meeting with the people who see what you don't
You sit down with the team, including the driver and the outside IT tech. In two meetings, the list fills up with risks you never put into words. Each one gets a score for likelihood and impact, and the spreadsheet sorts red from yellow from green.
Monday morning, and every screen is locked
Nobody wonders who's in charge. The first-hour steps are taped to the wall. One person decides, one runs operations, one talks to customers, one writes it all down. The first message goes out early, says what you know, and says when the next update comes.
The close call that cost nothing
Someone almost made an expensive mistake and caught it in time. Instead of a sigh of relief, it goes into the near-miss log: four questions on a phone. The fix goes in before the real mistake happens.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts. Map the risks: list them, score them, and find the one thing that stops everything. Look at where small businesses usually break: one big customer, one key person, one supplier, one costly error. Build prevention and plan B, then rehearse it around a table. Know who does what when a crisis hits. Then learn from it and redraw the map once a year. Every tool has a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Risk and Crisis Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise
- The risk map spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 10 working tabs, filled in with the example company
- The Template kit: 12 ready-made texts, from the likelihood and impact scale and the one-page continuity plan to the first message to customers
- 2 worksheets to fill in (risk and crisis first hour) and a 30-day plan, one week per stage
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · The risk map
- 01Risk inventoryEverything that could stop the business, in a single list
- 02Likelihood × impactThe matrix that separates what keeps you up at night from what is just a nuisance
- 03Three types of riskPreventable, strategy, or external: each one calls for its own treatment
- 04Single point of failureThe one thing that stops the whole business if it fails, found before it does
Part 2 · Part 2 · Where small businesses break
- 05Customer concentrationWhen one customer becomes a third of your revenue
- 06Key personWhat only one person knows, and how to share it
- 07Single supplier and partnerThe second supplier approved before you need it
- 08Barriers against costly errorsLayers of checks for the error that turns into a fine
Part 3 · Part 3 · Prevention and plan B
- 09Four responses to riskAvoid, reduce, transfer, or accept, in writing
- 10Business insuranceTransfer what the business can't afford to pay on its own, and know what to ask the broker
- 11Early warning indicatorsThe numbers that warn you before trouble hits
- 12Business continuity planWorking without the office, without the system, or without a key person
- 13Tabletop exerciseRehearse a crisis in two hours, around a table, and find the gaps while they're cheap
Part 4 · Part 4 · When the crisis hits
- 14Crisis levelsIncident, serious problem, or crisis: who handles each
- 15Crisis team and the first hourWho decides, who speaks, and who runs operations
- 16The crisis decision cycleObserve, understand, decide, and act in short rounds
- 17Crisis communicationSpeak early, tell the truth, and speak again
- 18Crisis stakeholder mapA message and an owner for each stakeholder
Part 5 · Part 5 · Learn and come out stronger
- 19Recovery prioritiesWhat comes back first when everything has stopped
- 20Blameless reviewAsk what failed, not who, so people keep telling you the truth
- 21Near-miss logThe close call that cost nothing teaches for free
- 22Stronger after the shockTurning the lessons of a crisis into an advantage
- 23Stress testHow long the business can withstand the worst case
- 24Annual risk reviewRedraw the map once a year
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You've never written down what could stop your business and want to start without hiring a consultant
- You depend on one customer, one person, one supplier, or one system, and you know it
- If everything stopped tomorrow, you're not sure who decides, who calls customers, or what comes back first
- You've had a scare and don't want to be caught off guard again
It's not for you if
- You need a compliance program with policies, internal controls, and data protection. That's The Governance and Compliance Handbook
- You need to get the business out of the red right now. Start with The Financial Turnaround Handbook
- You want the technical side of backups and passwords. See The Small Business Cybersecurity Handbook
- You want to eliminate risk altogether. This handbook organizes prevention and response. Some risk always stays
Frequently asked questions
My business is tiny. Is this overkill?
It works in a short version. With three people, the inventory takes about an hour and the continuity plan fits on half a page. In a business that small, the single point of failure is usually you, and the handbook tells you to start there.
Isn't insurance enough?
Insurance covers part of the damage from some risks. It doesn't prevent the crisis or bring back a lost customer. The handbook shows what to transfer to insurance and what to prevent, and gives you the questions to ask your insurance broker. Policy rules differ by country, so it flags what to check with your broker and your lawyer.
Do I really need a crisis team if there are five of us?
You need four jobs covered: decide, operate, speak, and record. Two people can split them, as long as each one knows which jobs are theirs before anything happens.
What if a crisis hits before I finish the plan?
Use the crisis first-hour worksheet at the back of the book and the four tools on crisis levels, the crisis team, the decision cycle, and crisis communication. They work even without the rest of the system in place.
Will this work for my kind of business?
If something could stop your business, yes. The example is a customs brokerage, but every tool shows how it applies to services, retail, manufacturing and distribution, and independent professionals. You list your own risks.
How much time does this take?
About 2 hours and 24 minutes of reading, or 6 minutes per tool, plus the exercises. After that, the early warning dashboard gets a look every month, and the inventory, the scores, and the stress test get reviewed once a year.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
CONSYLION HANDBOOK SERIES
The 6 departments of your business, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks.
This handbook solves today's problem. The Series solves the next one, and the one after that, with nothing more to pay.
- 100 handbooks with 2,403 ready-made tools, to read on screen and download as PDFs
- 100 spreadsheets for Excel and Google Sheets
- 6 business areas
- Lifetime access, unlocked once payment is confirmed
One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Management · Nº 63
Write down plan B while things are calm
A plan made on a quiet afternoon is the one that works when the quiet runs out. This handbook gives you the tools, a spreadsheet, and ready-made texts to map what could break your business and decide ahead of time what you'll do. It can't prevent every bad day. It can keep the next one from being a surprise.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.