Prepare Your Business For Natural Disasters

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Natural disasters are just that - disasters

Natural disasters are just that - disasters. They can destroy homes, impact lives, and ruin businesses. While keeping your business afloat through a natural disaster may not be your number one priority (that probably belongs to your family) it's pretty important.

Taking the time now to properly prepare for a natural disaster can make all the difference if and when one actually happens. And with the frequency of natural disasters on the rise, it may become a matter of "when" and not "if."

Train Your Team This may mean bringing in an expert or taking a few hours on your own to discuss what to do in case of emergency. This can cover emergency phone numbers, basic first aid, or other emergency preparedness information. Even though these are skill you hope to never have to use, they're always good to have.

Have Way To Contact Employees This may be a phone chain that you've set up, with each employee assigned to call two or three others, who then are supposed to call two or three others. Using a website or e-mail addresses to communicate may also work, depending on how much access people have.

Put Someone In Charge and Be Organized This "someone" may be you, but have someone head up this initiative. This could mean heading up the preparation or, if you already have systems in place, maintaining it.

Get A Kit Together It's possible for you and/or your employees to be stranded at your store or office after a disaster. It would be wise to have some food and water on hand, a first-aid kit, and other basic needs.

These next few points relate to doing what you can to minimize the negative financial impact a disaster can have.

Keep Good Records This means having names, addresses, phone numbers, and other vital information for employees, insurance agents, emergency responders, clients, suppliers, and anyone else you can think of. It also means regularly backing up all your computer files and, if possible, storing them in an off-site location.

Discuss Possibilities With Suppliers Take the time to talk with your suppliers about what could be done if there was a disaster. Of course, the most important things will be to make sure everyone and everything is safe, but you'll want to start business back up as soon as possible. Make sure you've talked with your suppliers so you're prepared.

Temporary Relocation If possible, plan on where your business could temporarily relocate. You may have to limit your products, services, or workload for that time, but getting back to work quickly can be financially and emotionally rewarding.

Can Employees Work From Home? As mentioned, there is a certain amount of strength that can come from getting back to work after a disaster (within reason, of course). For those employees who are comfortable doing so or would like to, have them do some work from home. This too will help put the business - and their jobs and lives - back on track.

The advantage to all this preparation is that even if something less severe happens, you and your team will be prepared.

by: Jacque Crook

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