Preparing Your Business for Natural or Man-Made Disasters

When it comes to a loss, there is no commonality. You could operate your business out of a warehouse or manufacturing plant, or maybe your company is on the 12th floor of an office building. Whether you’re hit by a hurricane, earthquake, or tornado—or you’re the victim of a massive fire—no one I know has ever said they were 100% prepared for the potential loss of business, let alone your livelihood. 

Of course, there is the human toll, but in this blog, we’re talking about how to prepare for a “business interruption.” In 2022, Reuters reported that hurricanes and floods cost $120 billion in insurance losses.

What’s the bottom line for you? In short, how long will it take to get your business up and running? Based on my experience and working with hundreds of clients at Certum Solutions, here is my short list of best practices:

Check Your Insurance Coverage

Having professional liability insurance is a must. It’s like homeowners’ insurance; if you own your space, you’ll have to have insurance to cover any losses associated with a disaster. If you rent your office, your management office or building owner will want to keep your certificate of insurance on file. Chances are that your lease states mandated limits for coverage.

There is also something called business interruption insurance that covers losses if you were forced to shut down. The intent is to cover your operating expenses, such as your mortgage, rent or lease payments; taxes; payroll and several other areas.

Most business owners forget to check their insurance coverages other than when it’s time to renew, and most likely, just automatically pay the bill. Travelers suggests reviewing it at least once a year. A good idea is to write yourself a calendar invite or task to check your insurance every six months.

Move to the Cloud if you can

Many of our clients continue to back up their customer data and information on servers located in their offices. This works fine in most cases—unless the server is in peril of being destroyed due to a fire or even an earthquake.

The safest process and best practice is to back up your information to the cloud. If you’re still not trusting that the cloud will keep your information safe and secure, I totally get where you’re coming from. However, today’s cloud is a far cry from the cloud of yesteryear, with sophisticated, redundant and encrypted systems protected from fire or other disasters.

Operating in today’s e-commerce environment also necessitates the cloud to store your customers’ information. Certum can help you set up your information safely and security; currently, we have most of our e-commerce clients on Shopify.

Also think about QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks hosted solutions. This software operates in the cloud, and is always safe and secure. Your IT consultant can help guide you to find the right cloud vendor that meets your needs.

Maintain a Way to Contact Employees

This step is so simple that most business owners forget about it. Whether you have a handful of employees or a large workforce, you’ll need to be able to contact your employees if a disaster strikes, especially if it’s after hours or on the weekend. 

In old fashioned terms, this is known as a “phone tree,” in which HR or upper management call department heads, who in turn call their staff. You can get more sophisticated if you need to with messaging solutions such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. Another best practice is to give employees a number they call into to get the latest news on when the company will reopen.

Either way, find a solution that works for you and your particular needs.

Know Your Risks and Prepare!

No one wants to experience a loss of any kind, but in some cases, it just can’t be helped. In those rare times when you must face your fears, you’ll want to be prepared as much as you can. For every business owner, this starts with three things: a loss of revenue, a loss of employees and a loss of customer loyalty. While you can’t probably be prepared 100% of the time, you can come close with careful planning and thinking ahead.

Contact us if we can help you sort out these issues. You can also visit our Contact page to schedule a free 30-minute chat.