Is Your Business Ready for the Next Disaster?

In my community, we are starting to look into business continuity:  How to prepare your business for a disaster and increase the probability that you can reopen in case of a major emergency.  This is not just a local issue but applies to all communities.  The more prepared your community is, the faster that it can recover from a major disaster.  The time to prepare for an emergency is before it happens. 

A lot of us have prepared our homes for an earthquake (water, food, emergency supplies, a pre and post emergency plan, etc) but not many of us have prepared our businesses for an emergency.  If your business had to close due to an earthquake or other disaster, would you be prepared to get in contact with your employees, distributors, customers, or emergency agencies that could help get your business reopened and running?  It is estimated that 43% of all businesses that close because of a major disaster never reopen.  For you, your employees, your customers, your community, you should take it upon yourself to work with like mined businesses, city governments, your chamber to come up with an action plan.  Some actions items may include some of the following:

Planning List for your Business:

• Identify the hazards you or your business may face.
• Plan for and reduce the impact of disasters.
• Plan or doing business after a disaster hits.
• Get advice on insurance, disaster supplies and what you can do to make your business more disaster resistant.

By taking steps to protect your business, you are protecting one of the community's assets.  Not only will you continue to provide services after a disaster, you will be providing jobs for the local resident and sales tax to help run the local government.

Business Continuity Plan:

• Actions following and emergency
• Contact information
• Critical Functions
• Vital Records/Assets
• Test your Business Continuity Plan

Back Up Your Computer Data:

• List valuable documents, files and records
• Where are they stored?
• Are they backed up? Where and how often?
• Customer files and Records
• Assets Inventory

Make an Emergency Plan:

• Emergency first aid Training
• Procedures for fire or an earthquake
• Each employee have an out of town contact

Other Action items:

• Know what to do when the shaking begins, when it stops.
• Prepare a disaster kit
• Prepare a disaster supplies kit.
• Prepare emergency contact information for all city, county, business, etc
• Prepare personal emergency contact information
• Prepare employee contact information