A guide for companies on how to survive crises.
Can your company survive the first 72 hours of a major crisis?
How will you manage when the power goes out, the internet drops, and your key people don't show up for work?
A blackout doesn’t start with darkness. It starts with the inability to pay, call, and refuel. In Spain and Portugal, on April 28, 2025, the entire power grid collapsed in 27 seconds, and telecommunication network traffic plunged to 17% of its normal volume. Your business continuity plan probably silently assumes that payments, communications, and suppliers will function. These are exactly the things that fail first. The state will be busy saving lives and securing basic services; they won't have the capacity for your company. The first few hours will determine whether you survive the crisis and how fast you recover.
The summer 2025 power outage in the Czech Republic affected 1 million delivery points out of a total of 6 million.
Deloitte estimated that five hours without electricity in 2025 cost us approximately
And that only accounted for the electricity not delivered. They didn't count spoiled inventory, backup generators, overtime, or compensation. Škoda Auto stopped production in all its plants that day.
January 3, 2026 – Terrorists set fire to a cable bridge near a Berlin power plant. 45,000 households and 2,200 companies were left without power for four days. It was the longest power outage in Berlin since 1945.
67% of the population believes that no major disasters or crises threaten the area where they live.
The domino effect in practice
of solar power plants won't deliver a single watt. They are not built for off-grid operation and won't turn on without frequency from the grid.
of all fire department call-outs were for people trapped in elevators. Later that evening, apartment fires caused by candles and space heaters began. 56 people died of carbon monoxide poisoning from backup heat sources (Czech Republic, 2025).
of all losses caused by a widespread blackout were not due to the lack of electricity. They were caused by what people did and how companies decided to act
The biggest threat isn't events, but your invisible dependencies
Hidden vulnerabilities:
A crisis instantly exposes dependencies that are invisible during normal operations—whether it's a reliance on a single supplier, one IT system, or a few key individuals.
The domino effect in logistics:
A geopolitical crisis can turn into a direct problem for your company within hours, for example, when foreign highways are blocked and essential manufacturing components fail to arrive.
Collapse of internal communication:
Operations often stop not because of the technical failure itself, but because of chaos. If employees don't know exactly what is happening and what to do, some won't show up for work, and the rest will be left in the dark. Marketing or PR departments won't save production in such moments.
Cyber threats:
Besides power outages, there is also the threat of cyberattacks. Last year, NÚKIB recorded 268 incidents primarily targeting private companies, with recovery typically taking over a hundred days. Resilience is not just a security issue, but a part of corporate strategic management.
You can prepare for a crisis, and preparation can be practiced.
We offer a full-day crisis simulation tailored to your sector.
The state will not take care of your company. In the first days of a crisis, state authorities are fully occupied with people in immediate danger and securing critical infrastructure. They won't reach your business. Surprise is the most expensive factor—resilience is built in calm times, in a crisis you only consume what you have. You won't produce plans, records, and prepared processes on the day the power goes out.
What exactly will you take away from the simulation
Uncover weaknesses safely:
During the exercise, you will discover what fails before a real crisis does.
Training under pressure:
We put you in the scenario, and you make decisions for your own company with incomplete information and under time pressure.
Test real dependencies:
Test how your company functions when suppliers, communications, or key employees drop out.
A competitive edge:
A company that prepares gains an advantage that its competitors will pay dearly for during a crisis.
Expert team
Strategic Partner
PřipravmeSe!
PřipravmeSe! is a platform of the Centre for an Informed Society, the European Values Center for Security Policy, and the Prague Centre for Media Skills. We connect top experts from the military and security community with leaders of Czech business.
