Anything can happen—at any time and in any region of the country. I’m not trying to be a fear monger here, but I’ll bet that up until a few days ago most East Coasters would have bet big money against ever experiencing an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week.
What do these disasters mean for small business owners? Doom and gloom for some, according to Tom Hammond, executive vice president of operations for BOLT Insurance Agency in Farmington, Connecticut.
“About 25 percent of small businesses do not recover from natural disasters. These storms can take a person’s lifelong passion offline all because they don’t have a plan in place—it’s all about being prepared,” he says.
Here’s how to make sure you’ll be part of the 75 percent that survives.
1. Make a plan
Sit down with your management team and hash out how you will react to a weather disaster, terrorist attack, etc. As part of the plan, think about where you will store your records and establish an off-site location, advises Hammond. Create a detailed inventory list of your contacts, assets and financial records. Store them outside of your office.
Next, assign tasks to specific members of your team. “Who is going to grab your external hard drives in the event of a flood? Who is going to be the lead client liaison for e-mailing customers and staying in touch? Who is going to be on top of job schedules/who does what when? Who is in charge of the phone tree? All of these things are important to plan out and assign,” says Shaun Walker, creative director of HERO|farm, a marketing firm based in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Pass out the plan to employees or put it up on your website—it needs to available to everyone.
2. Secure proper coverage
You have insurance and live in San Francisco, so it must cover earthquakes, right? Not necessarily.
“You may need to apply separately for natural disaster coverage; umbrella coverage usually doesn’t cover everything—make sure you have a conversation with your insurance professional to ensure you have the right type of coverage,” says Hammond.
Coverage doesn’t just include your building falling down when a tornado or hurricane strikes, it can also include loss of income, loss of assets, and in the case of virtual businesses, loss of connectivity.
What are the biggest misconceptions about buying disaster coverage? “That it will be too expensive to afford and that they have time to put it off,” he says. “In reality, insurance is a vital part of running a business and isn’t as expensive as you may think—just make sure to shop around and get multiple quotes from multiple carriers.”
3. Record employee information/secure a conference number
Lets say a hurricane hits your office at 5 a.m. on a Tuesday. Your employees are woken up the rain and have no idea whether or not to come into work. In this case, it is vital to have phone numbers for each employee.
“A few years ago when Hurricane Gustav hit, we had a difficult time contacting our employees—90 percent of the population of New Orleans is on AT&T and everyone was on their phones, so the service was non-existent,” says Walker.
He recommends carrying a list of alternate numbers (employee’s family members, etc). “We also have a conference number so that the day after everyone evacuates, we will have a check-in meeting where people can call in and say they are OK,” he adds.
4. Stay in touch with clients
Keep clients up to date with e-blasts, suggests Walker. “In the e-blast, we will explain how we are prepared for the storm and still how we are thinking of them and dedicated to their business.” He also recommends setting up e-mail away messages with the same information.
Use Twitter to keep clients and employees updated—using hash tags, he adds.
5. Use the storm to your advantage
If you find yourself off-site for a long period of time, Walker recommends networking in your new environment. “Bring business cards and meet people in your new area,” he says. “See the storm as an opportunity, not as a hindrance.”
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