Even when you plan for everything to go well and smoothly, running a business is full of risks. It’s crucial to know how to handle every type of mistake you can think of before one takes your business down.

When one simple misstep can spell disaster for a company’s reputation, it’s important to have strategies in place that help prevent such missteps and help with fast damage control in the event that one does happen. Here, seven members of Business Journals Leadership Trust discuss various preventative methods business owners can follow to avoid public outrage or getting canceled in the event of a misstep.

Use an online monitoring process.

An online brand reputation monitoring process is imperative for all businesses. At a minimum, set up Google Alerts to be notified when your company name is detected online. Should a misstep be voiced online, your company must respond rapidly to the review or comment to provide an explanation or apology. A timely, sincere response (online or offline) will go far in mitigating backlash. – Lincoln Jacobe, 6 Pillars Marketing

Read the entire article on bizjournals.com