Today, the entire world looked on as a video showing HP’s facial recognition software failing miserably hit the mainstream. While the video was put onto youtube last week, the video didn’t hit the front pages of the news sources until today – and was met with immediate response all over the internet. Twitter was filled with tweets, the web was filled with articles, and HP was in a rush to get their statement out.

15 years ago, were a company to face something this disastrous with one of their products, there would have been no way for the world to hear about it so quickly – or through so many channels. They would have had some time to develop a statement, see exactly where they needed to target and chose the right media outlets to talk through. Now, they have to be able to respond almost instantly and in many directions. It is a much scarier world for companies who deal with customers…

While large companies have always had PR teams in place, writers ready to prepare statements and ways to spin stories, small businesses often don’t have the resources for this protection. But, that doesn’t mean it is okay to let it slip aside. It is almost more important for small companies to know what to do if your product fails because of the smaller number of customers you work with. If HP loses one customer, what does that mean to them? Not much. What if you were to lose one customer? Means a bit more, right?

Does your business have a disaster plan ready? Why or why not?