Crises happen. Sometimes they are foreseeable, perhaps preventable. Sometimes they are unpredictable or inevitable or both. One way or the other, there are going to be crises of some sort. Get used to the idea.

As often as not, it is not the crisis itself that does the real damage so much as the ill-considered reaction to the crisis.

There are many obvious examples of this in politics and at the higher end of economic policy. There are even more examples in small business – the difference being that the small business does not survive its mistakes.

So, here are the most common mistakes that businesses make in a crisis, and some thoughts on how to avoid them:

1   Panic – if you can stop yourself over-reacting, and can instead sit down and analyse the problem calmly, the odds are that you will find the situation is not as hopeless as it might have seemed at first

2   Ignoring the problem – while avoiding panic, do not go to the other extreme of pretending that there is no crisis when it should be obvious that one is coming or has already arrived

3   Changing everything – change for the sake of change is a classic panic reaction when you should really be working out the real root of the problem and targeting any changes there

4   Cutting marketing – while it may be necessary to cut costs in a cash crisis, one should also be seeking to increase income, so make sure any cuts do not undermine your whole capacity to do business

5   Borrowing – do not let the false illusion that a problem is “temporary” serve as a pretext to delay a more fundamental but necessary financial restructuring

6   Seeking easy answers – be particularly on guard against salesmen who exploit vulnerable businessmen by offering to sell you a quick fix, be it new technology, consultancy, marketing opportunities, financial packages, or whatever.

The key to surviving a crisis is remaining as in control of your business as possible. The key to that is keeping a cool head and not surrendering the initiative.