The Resilience Advantage:

A Small Business Guide to Preparing for Floods, Heatwaves, Wildfires, and Other Climate Disasters

Preparing for climate risks is no longer a ‘nice to have’—it’s core to long-term business resilience

The Resilience Advantage is CRC’s climate resilience guide tailored for small businesses navigating extreme weather, rising insurance costs, and supply chain disruptions.

From flooding and heatwaves to wildfires and hurricanes, this resource helps business owners protect their teams, their assets, and their long-term future. Whether you run a retail shop, restaurant, clinic, or manufacturing site, you’ll find actionable strategies to plan, adapt, stay open, and grow in the face of climate disruptions.

Written for American small business owners across all sectors—from retail and restaurants to manufacturing, healthcare, and transportation—it offers a blueprint for protecting people, property, and profits when the unexpected strikes. It tackles the shrinking safety net for small businesses, showing owners how to prepare financially, close insurance gaps, and create continuity plans before disaster hits. It addresses both the economic and emotional toll of climate change, offering real-world examples and encouragement to help owners “stay small but mighty” in the face of uncertainty.

Why Climate Resilience Matters for Small Business

The U.S.’s 34 million small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy—and they’re already on the frontlines of climate disruption. From heatwaves and hurricanes to power outages and rising insurance premiums, extreme weather is no longer a distant threat—it’s a daily risk. The numbers speak for themselves:

  • Over half of U.S. businesses in a 2025 Bloomberg survey reported weather-related financial losses in the preceding year.

  • 40% of small businesses don’t reopen after a disaster, according to FEMA.

  • Rebuild by Design reports that almost every U.S. County has experienced a federally declared disaster in the past decade.

Whether you run a restaurant, repair shop, wellness studio, or landscaping crew, you deserve access to tools that help you prepare, adapt, and thrive—before, during, and after a disaster.

Written by Joyce Coffee and Robert Macnee, two nationally recognized leaders in climate preparedness who have helped hundreds of businesses and governments get ahead of the next big storm, fire, or flood.

    • Small businesses with 1–50 employees across all sectors—from retail and food service to trades and wellness

    • Solopreneurs and local entrepreneurs running independent operations from a single location

    • Landlords and property owners leasing to neighborhood businesses in commercial corridors

    • Economic development officials, chambers of commerce, and city leaders supporting local job growth and recovery

    • Corporate partners working to strengthen resilience across their small business supply chains

    • Philanthropic organizations investing in community-based economic resilience

    • And anyone who cares about walkable, vibrant, thriving business districts

  • Clear explanations of climate risks—extreme heat, flooding, wildfire, and more—without the jargon

    Step-by-step actions you can take now to reduce risk and improve resilience

    Checklists, real-world examples, and adaptable templates to guide your decisions

    AI-powered prompts to help tailor strategies to your business type, location, and needs

    Tools for cities, chambers, and nonprofits to support small business resilience at scale

    Human-centered guidance rooted in community strength and economic development experience

  • Paperback: Contact joyce@climateresilienceconsulting.com

    Kindle: Amazon

Coming Soon: The Small Biz Resilience Advantage Podcast

Discover our limited-series podcast companion to The Resilience Advantage: A Small Business Guide to Preparing for Floods, Heatwaves, Wildfires, and Other Climate Disasters. The Podcast explores how small businesses are preparing for climate impacts—from wildfire recovery to heat-proofing storefronts.

Free Tools for Climate Resilience

Looking to get started? Download our free checklists, self-assessments, and toolkits

designed to help small businesses build climate resilience without the overwhelm.

Share Your Climate Resilience Story

How has climate change affected your business? What steps are you taking to prepare for extreme weather, heat waves, or flooding?

Join the conversation. Tag us on LinkedIn using #SmallBizResilienceAdvantage and be part of a growing community of small business leaders building resilience.

Contact the Authors: joyce@climateresilienceconsulting.com; robert@climateresilienceconsulting.com

What People Are Saying . . .

  • A powerful tool—clear, rigorous, and optimistic—for entrepreneurs and companies navigating climate risk.

    Alex Kruzel, Corporate Strategy Advisor & Author

  • Translates decades of research into clear, actionable steps for small businesses facing climate risk.

    Don Wuebbles, PhD, Coordinating Lead Author, U.S. National Climate Assessment

  • Accessible and friendly despite the intimidating topic—highly recommended for owners and the organizations that support them.

    Katharine Burgess, VP, Smart Growth America

  • Gives small businesses the attention they deserve, with solutions-focused steps to continue serving their communities.

    Eric Tate, PhD, Professor, Princeton University

  • Delivers what entrepreneurs need—actionable strategies to survive and thrive amid climate disruption.

    Manny Flores, President & CEO, SomerCor

  • An actionable roadmap for small businesses and local leaders ready to build resilience.

    Katie Wholey, Enterprise Community Partners

  • Inspiration and concrete steps to help small businesses remain anchors for their communities.

    Arif Ullah, Executive Director, Anthropocene Alliance

  • Operationalizes resilience like nobody else—practical advice that is invaluable for small businesses.

    Larry Susskind, PhD, MIT & Harvard

  • An accessible guide with resources, case studies, and even AI insights to strengthen resilience.

    Lisa Churchill, Founder, Climate Advisory, Goldenseal

  • A timely roadmap to help businesses prepare for today’s increasingly frequent climate events.

    Kevin Telford, SCORE Mentor, Retired CFO

  • A powerful blueprint, with checklists, case studies, and even AI prompts, it makes resilience tangible and achievable.

    Chris Castro, EVP & Chief Sustainability Officer, Climate First Bank

  • A clear-eyed, actionable path for small businesses and leaders who can’t afford to wait.

    Doug Parsons, Director, America Adapts Media