What would you do if you only had fifteen minutes to load your car with all the business info that you needed to ensure disaster survival? Is that a far-fetched question?No, it is frequently the reality for small businesses.
Working in the disaster planning and recovery business for the past twenty-five years, I can tell you that it is a gut wrenching epiphany for many business owners.
Every year hundreds of thousands of Americans are exposed to disaster situations.
Yet most American businesses have no plan to proactively respond to disasters.
Congressional research substantiates this fact.
Government documents published in support of the "Back to Business Act of 2007," report that 43 percent of businesses that close during a natural disaster never again open their doors.
Another 29 percent close in the following two years.
Business owners without a disaster plan are often confronted with the chilling reality that they may only have minutes to locate and remove critical data and resources..
Sometimes this occurs in advance of a mandatory evacuation.
At other times after a disaster, there may be a small window of opportunity to remove essential records while under the supervision of public safety officials.
If you think you have no need for a plan or that it is simply an unnecessary exercise, then you place yourself in a prone reactionary mode.
Take the time to prepare a plan, no matter how bare bones it might appear.
What would be the most important business records or resources to take with you? Consider the following options: •Checks, bank account information •Data backup from server or desktop •Accounts receivable, payable •Insurance policies, broker info, claims contacts, •Employee contact info •Human resources info •Client contact info •Supplier/vendor emergency contacts •Articles of incorporation •Contracts •Business inventory records These records and materials must be preserved.
These resources ensure access to financial information, employees, data, equipment and clients.
Sometimes these essentials are overlooked in haste.
Today most business owners backup their data on the office server.
Yet how many actually take a backup copy off site or have it transmitted to a remote server for storage at regular intervals? What is the most frequently overlooked information? It is your client contact information.
Post disaster, how will you let your clients know that you have survived? You may be forced to relocate.
Perhaps you may simply lose your phone service for a prolonged period.
Do you have an alternate communication solution? Simply being prepared for call forwarding, switching communications from an area with no service to another region or area code that is still in operation can make all the difference.
Given all the blood sweat and tears that you invest as a small businessperson, isn't worth a few minutes to consider your fifteen-minute plan.
Take the time to prioritize your necessities.
Identify how to store them and protect them.
If you were out of the office would you be able to direct someone to these materials? Would they be easy to locate and identify? Commit this critical information to writing.
Place copies at home, in the office, in your car, with a trusted friend, or online.
Don't be caught off guard.
Having a plan is as important as having cash in the bank or business insurance.
Schedule the time, gather your key staff members and create your plan.
This effort can yield a greater return than any similar investment of time that you have ever made.