As a small business owner you should develop
a disaster preparedness plan. It's just as important as developing
a business plan. Having a disaster plan in place will make the
difference between being shut down for a few days, and losing
your livelihood.
Meet with an insurance agent who understands
the needs of your business. Business-interruption insurance—which
replaces income lost when a business suffers downtime becomes
of a covered peril—should be a consideration. Normal hazard
insurance doesn't cover floods, so make sure you have the right
kind of insurance. Make sure you know what your insurance does
not cover.
As the business owner, you should ask yourself
the following questions: Am I prepared to relocate temporarily?
What would happen if my suppliers shut down? Do my employees know
what to do in case of an emergency?
Employees should know where all the emergency
exits are located. A safety coordinator could be appointed—someone
who will take responsibility for making sure all the fire extinguishers
work, planning safety drills, developing evacuation plans.
Vital business records—information stored
on paper and computer, should be copied and saved on both the
hard dive and on backup diskettes at an offsite location at least
50 miles away from the main business site.
Your business should also have a “recovery
communications” plan in place. Key employees can be assigned
as spokespersons who will contact suppliers, creditors, other
employees, customers, media and utility companies to get the word
out that the business is still viable. Also, that spokesperson
can keep the public informed of rebuilding efforts, if necessary.
