Three things small businesses can learn from Chipotle’s mistakes
Recently, Chipotle, a national Mexican food restaurant chain, came under attack due to a food borne illness that contaminated their food and caused multiple customers to become extremely sick. While this is a nightmare scenario for any restaurant owner, it’s important to take a look into what went wrong with Chipotle to learn how to prevent any similar situation from happening to your business.
Here are three things restaurants can learn from Chipotle’s foodborne illness outbreak.
#1 – Make sure you have the right business insurance
All restaurants need liability insurance, as well as a few other policies that provide coverage specific to businesses, including standalone foodborne illness coverage and business income coverage.
General liability insurance policies cover the restaurant in the event a customer gets sick and decides to sue the restaurant. This insurance will cover doctor’s bills, any time they needed to take off work to recover and any other damages.
The standalone food borne illness policy covers loss of income due to the food borne illness outbreak and pays for things like dealing with health departments and hiring public relations to restore your brand.
A business income policy will cover any loss of income your restaurant may experience due to an outbreak at another restaurant related to yours.
#2 – Encourage your sick employees to stay home
The chipotle outbreak stemmed from a sick employee that decided to come into work. As a business owner, stress to your employees how important it is for them to stay home when sick. Not only is this important for their health, but it is also important for the health of your entire team and your customers.
#3 – Keep your business practices up to date with technology
Everyone is online these days, which is why it’s important to ensure your business is enforcing best practices when it comes to use of the internet and securely storing information. A breach of information can mean that not only your important business information has been hacked, but also the information of all your customers, especially in restaurants where credit cards are ran multiple times a day.
Improving your business and learning from Chipotle
While the situation Chipotle experience was devastating for both the restaurant and the customers that became sick, it’s important to learn from the mistakes they made in order to improve your own business practices. With the right internal policies, insurance and protection, it’s possible to be prepared for unpredictable situations.
Talk to your insurance agent to learn about restaurant business insurance and what you can do to improve your coverage.
