Free preparedness exercise

Test the handoff before the disruption does.

A 30-minute drill for owners, advisers, economic-development teams, and resilience programs. Choose one disruption, test one essential function, and leave with a short repair list.

Run the drill

Free
No account
Private in browser
Printable

30minutes

01Facility

02Technology

03Supplier

04Key person

What this tests01 / 05

A narrow continuity question

Can someone else carry one essential function with the owner unavailable?

This is not a full emergency plan. It is a short operating exercise that sits beside one. The drill checks whether a named backup can find the right information, reach the right people, use the required systems, and make decisions within clear limits.

Use it during preparedness workshops, adviser sessions, leadership meetings, or an annual continuity review.

Use the smallest safe test.

Do not interrupt live safety systems, emergency communications, regulated processes, customer care, payroll, or critical production merely to complete the exercise. Simulate the handoff when a live test would create unnecessary risk.

Choose one disruption02 / 05

Scenario cards

Pick the event that exposes the most useful weakness.

Choose one scenario for the session. The drill is more useful when the event is specific enough to force a real operating choice.

01Facility inaccessible

The normal workplace cannot be used for one business day.

Test location, equipment, records, and customer communication. 02Technology outage

A core system or shared drive is unavailable for four hours.

Test access, workarounds, data ownership, and escalation. 03Supplier interruption

A critical vendor cannot deliver on the expected date.

Test alternatives, approvals, inventory visibility, and notice. 04Key person unavailable

The owner or function lead cannot be reached for one business day.

Test delegated authority, context, relationships, and limits.

Facilitator flow03 / 05

00-05 minFrame the event

Read the chosen scenario aloud. State the start time, assumed duration, and what remains available.

05-10 minName one function

Choose one essential function and define how quickly it must continue or resume.

10-22 minRun the handoff

The backup explains each action, locates the inputs, and names decisions that require escalation.

22-30 minDebrief and repair

Score the handoff, record evidence, assign each repair, and set the retest date.

Small Business Disruption Handoff Drill

Working worksheet04 / 05

Selected scenario

Facility inaccessible

Entries stay in this browser tab. Redwood does not receive or store them.

0/ 5 verifiedStart the handoff

What did the backup verify without relying on the unavailable person? Located the current procedure or working instructions. Accessed the systems, files, equipment, or physical records required. Identified the correct customer, supplier, employee, and adviser contacts. Explained which decisions were delegated and which required escalation. Completed or accurately simulated the first three actions within the target time.

This drill supports preparedness discussion and operating prioritization. It is not an emergency-response plan, safety certification, legal opinion, insurance review, or professional assessment.

For resource publishers05 / 05

Ready-to-share listing copy

A practical drill for small-business resilience programs.

Government agencies, universities, SBDCs, chambers, extension teams, and economic-development organizations may link directly to this page. No permission, account, or partner relationship is required.

Suggested description

Free Small Business Disruption Handoff Drill: a private 30-minute exercise and printable debrief for testing one essential function during a facility closure, technology outage, supplier interruption, or key-person absence.

https://redwoodholdingsllc.com/small-business-disruption-handoff-drill.html

Continue the continuity work

One drill finds the gap. Repeated handoffs build the operating habit.

Use the broader resource kit to map owner dependence, commercial concentration, and transition readiness before the next test.

Open the resource kit Return to the worksheet