Canadian companies can gain a competitive advantage by building resilience into their corporate culture.

Planning for the unexpected isn’t easy for small-business owners. It’s risky, tricky and scary. The reason is obvious: You don’t know what lurks around the corner.

A good disaster plan is a must. But equally important is knowing how to deal with the slower, insidious, subtle business trends that could slow your business to a crawl.

Often, you don’t even realize they’re out there, undermining your business, invading your markets, and going after your customers. They could be powerful competitors or new technologies that could radically change your business environment or your customers’ expectations.

As smart and intuitive as you think you are, there is no way to anticipate all the changes you’ll encounter while running your business.

But you can adapt and grow if your business is resilient. Resilience can be defined as the ability to absorb, understand and, most importantly, capitalize on unexpected events and adverse conditions.

Here are four tips that can build resilience into your company:

1. Create company ambassadors. Think of every employee as an ambassador of your company. Make them a part of the business process by opening the communication channels so that they know what’s going on in good times and in  hard times. They, in turn, will communicate with your customers and promote your business. In the process, they will get feedback, which is priceless for meeting their needs. By simply sharing and exchanging information, you’re building good will between employees and customers, while also constantly improving your products and services.
2. Go the extra mile. Many companies mistakenly think that their job is done when they get their products or services to their customers on time and they’re paid for their efforts. But the relationship doesn’t end when products are delivered to the loading dock. If that’s the nature of your relationship with your customers, you easily can be replaced. To keep your customers, you must follow up and find out if they’re satisfied. You ought to be constantly communicating with them to learn more about their operations so you can improve your products to better meet their needs. That is what going the proverbial extra mile is all about.
3. Take a proactive role in making your customers’ businesses better, and they in turn will come to you for help and advice.
   Hire and hold. Building resilience throughout your company also involves hiring great people and going out of your way to motivate and retain them through thick and thin. If salaries or bonuses have to be cut, give your employees the opportunity to pitch in and help. You may be pleasantly surprised by the results. Heroes are often born during tough times.
4. Assess your strengths and vulnerabilities. Return to fundamentals. Slow periods are an excellent time to step back and evaluate your business. Look at your product mix. Are some products selling better than others? Why? What is your ROI? How could it be improved? You might find that some products ought to be scrapped, and others upgraded. It also might be an ideal time to introduce new products – if it can be done prudently and strategically. Take this analytic, hard-nosed tack with every aspect of your business. Only good can come of it.

Adapted from a story by Frank Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based staffing company The Employment Solution, that appeared in Canadian Business.