This post was originally written by Marc Emmer for Inc. Magazine

The terrorist attacks on September 11 were a shock to our senses. In 2007, few people outside of Wall Street saw the housing crash on the horizon. The Covid-19 pandemic seemed to come from nowhere. These are black swan events: rare, fairly unpredictable, high-impact shocks that turn business models and economies upside down. While you can’t predict them, you can prepare your business to be resilient enough to survive them—and even take advantage of them. 

Here’s a look at 10 potential black swan events that could impact small and mid-size businesses over the next five years.