How to Prevent Your Business From Being Interrupted by a Natural Disaster
Natural disasters do happen, and can cause great, unexpected damages that you can’t possibly plan for in advance. Floods, hailstorms, and many other kinds of disasters can come with very little warning, not leaving much time for preparations. Will your business be able to survive an unforeseen disaster?
Here’s a scary fact: According to West Bend Insurance, “more than 30 percent of businesses never reopen their doors after they’ve been closed down by a hurricane, tornado, flood, or other devastating calamity.” However, there are steps you can take to make sure your business isn’t interrupted even in the wake of a major storm or other catastrophe.
Prepare a Disaster Recovery Plan
One of the best ways to prepare for an unexpected disaster is to have a disaster recovery plan in place just in case. You want to revisit this plan on a regular basis throughout the year. You’ll want to take note of how different sorts of emergencies could affect employees, properties, and various parts of your overall business. As part of your plan, you want to have an emergency response plan that specifies who needs to know about the disaster and any measures that need to be taken to save whatever property and lives as possible.
Another thing to have as part of your disaster recovery plan includes a list of contact info for local and state emergency services, as well as major customers and vendors that you deal with on a regular basis so that everyone stays in touch in the wake of the disaster.
Try to Keep the Lights On
Having a standby generator for your business can help you to stay open in the wake of a disaster. Depending on your industry, you may have a business that people won’t bother to visit as they may be tied up with dealing with their own problems after the disaster. There may be other property damage, but keeping the lights on, even when customers aren’t coming in the door is still a good thing. If you’re able to still conduct any sort of business operations at all, the chances that you’re reopen again and have things return to normal is much higher.
Evaluating Insurance Plans, Including Business Interruption Insurance
When evaluating different policies to insure your business, be aware of the covered perils (what disasters it will cover) and sublimits (the maximum amount you can actually expect to receive). There are certain exclusions that could prove costly later, so be sure that you have the coverage you need for your particular region’s weather conditions.
Business interruption insurance can be quite valuable in the wake of a natural disaster. Also known as BI insurance, this type of plan can be put in place to help your business get back on its feet after a natural disaster by helping you recoup some money to make up for lost revenue. It can even help pay for storage and relocation costs in case your current business location becomes too damaged to resume business within a reasonable amount of time. While these policies typically won’t recoup the entirety of lost revenue, they are certainly helpful in keeping your business from falling too far in the red.
The more your business is prepared for various emergencies, the more likely that not only will your business reopen after a disaster, but succeed even better than before.