Storm Preparedness: 4 Tips For Small Businesses
It doesn't matter what type of small business you are running and operating, it is important that you are prepared for anything. More than likely, especially if you are new to owning a business, the last thing that you are worried about is a hurricane, earthquake or other natural disaster sweeping through and doing damage to your business. However, it could happen, and it could put you out of business if you have not put the effort into being prepared. Here are a few storm preparedness tips:
Tip #1: Identify Some Potential Problems.
Every area has a weak spot when it comes to weather, so you need to figure out what yours is. For example, do you live in an area where wildfires often occur? Or maybe you live in an area where tornadoes are a significant risk? Determine which natural disasters are most likely to occur and identity the risk factor for your business. Then, you can start really preparing your business for disaster.
Tip #2: Consider a Business Impact Analysis.
Do you know what type of impact a potential disaster would have on your business as a whole? For example, do you know how much it could result in delayed or lost sales and revenue or how much of increase it would cause in expenses because of repairs? A business impact analysis can help identify these amounts as well as detect any issues with your disaster preparedness plan, if you have one, such as with your inventory management, customer communication and record keeping precautions.
Tip #3: Develop an Emergency Response Plan.
If you do not currently have an emergency response plan, it is time to create one and ensure that everyone in the building is aware of it. It should be practiced on a regular basis. This particular plan needs to include how employees and customers in the building will be protected, how business operations will be managed, and how communications will occur during and after a potential natural disaster.
Tip #4: Develop a Business Continuity Plan.
In many cases, especially if your business operates online, business is going to continue to go on even though a natural disaster has occurred. Therefore, an important question that must be addressed is how will that happen? As orders continue to come in, though your brick-and-mortar store is closed, how will you fulfill those orders? How will you communicate with suppliers and customers? How will manage to recover any company data that has been lose? A business continuity plan will address these questions and more.
For more advice contact a business such as Welsh Insurance Agency Inc.
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