Does Your Business Have an Emergency Response Plan?
Tornados. Earthquakes. Wild fires. Flooding. When it comes to natural disasters, there are a whole range of issues they can bring up that may impact your business. Unfortunately, research by FEMA has found that 40% of businesses never reopen after a disaster, and of the 60% that do, nearly half of those won't last over two years following the incident. How do you protect your company against this hazard? Business continuity planning.
When you develop a business plan, you need to take a little time to plan for emergencies. Fortunately, the availability of technical assets makes the process easier now than it has been in the past.
Here's a few tips to help get you started:
Back up your essential data
Yes, it's a pain, but it's easier today than ever to create backups of your operational data. You can set up automated daily or weekly backups to an online storage location. This helps you quickly get your company back on its feet after a disaster. Cloud backups and software-as-a-service options allow your staff to use home computers or mobile devices to continue operations.
Have sufficient insurance
When you get insurance for your company, consider whether the policies cover natural disasters, fires, flooding or similar emergencies. In addition to having good insurance, you'll also want to keep good records of your business assets that may be lost in a disaster, including photos or a video inventory, preferably kept in a secure location with a spare cloud backup just in case.
Make a plan
Take the time to get a few of your creative thinkers, clever techs and emerg
ency responders together to determine the best plan of action for fires, riots or natural disasters that are likely for your area. Write out a solid action plan to ensure everyone knows what to do in an emergency and plan annual exercises to determine where the plan works and where it needs to be worked on.
By taking the time to plan for business continuity in a disaster, you can work the odds to move your company into the 30% who return to successful operations after a disaster. If you need help developing your company's business plan or continuity planning, please feel free to contact the business professionals at AccountRely today. At AccountRely, when you're here, you're family.
