|
How
to Prepare Your Business for a Natural (or man-made) Disaster
How quickly your business can get back on its feet after a hurricane,
tornado, flood, fire, or even a terrorist attack depends on emergency
planning done today. Small business owners invest a tremendous amount
of time, money and resources to make their ventures successful,
and yet, while the importance of emergency planning may seem self-evident,
it may get put on the back-burner in the face of more immediate
concerns. For small business owners, being prepared can mean staying
in business following a disaster. An estimated 25 percent of businesses
do not reopen following a major disaster, according to the Institute
for Business and Home Safety.
Consider this - you could also plan to expand your
business during and after a disaster. Regardless of the type of
retailer you are, you could reach more people and earn the respect
of current and new customers by having the supplies to help carry
them through the rough times. Remember, people want to start rebuilding
their lives right away. This would also apply to your employees
since you most likely could not run your business without them.
What plans can you make now that will help you in the event that
a natural disaster such as a tornado hits your business?
Disasters come in many shapes – from weather
events like hurricanes, tornados spun off of hurricanes, violent
thunder storms, and floods. In addition to these natural disasters
man-made events like fires, chemical spills, vandalism or even burglaries
can have a huge negative impact on your operations. Creation of
a living business continuity plan or disaster recovery plan is far
from a trivial exercise. However, having stated this, it is equally
true that the creation of a plan is often made far more difficult
than actually necessary.
Small-to-medium-sized businesses are the most vulnerable in the
event of an emergency. Having an emergency plan can help protect
a company and enhance its potential to recover after an emergency.
Though most businesses agree emergency preparedness is important,
too few are taking necessary steps to prepare. According to an October
2005 survey of small businesses conducted by The Ad Council, 92
percent of respondents said it was very important or somewhat important
for businesses to take steps to prepare for a catastrophic disaster,
but only 39 percent said their company had a plan in place.
Business Continuity Plan
An important first step in combating a disastrous event is to know
what you should do. A business continuity plan (BCP), which is a
management process to ensure the continuity of businesses, can address
key issues like inventory control, purchasing, sales, marketing
and personnel issues.
The basic components of a good BCP include planning and implementing
the activities of prevention and protection of all of the risks
anticipated before an event occurs, planning for the activities
to be implemented or executed during an emergency or disastrous
event, including the emergency response plan, evacuation plan, crisis
management and communications plan, work-around or contingency plan,
and then, strategic and tactical planning with resources and vital
information and documentation of the activities for resumption,
recovery, and restoration of businesses - both physical and logical,
exercises/update and plan management.
If possible, an individual responsibility for handling each of those
categories should be identified.
Create two sets of pertinent information. This should include all
critical documents such as insurance policies, leases, lines of
credit, and vendor lists. Keep a current set of computer backup
disks or tapes off site. When keeping backups off site remember
you must be able to reach them easily in the event you need them.
If the bank safe deposit box is under water or the bank has been
blown into another county, it provides little help, to you. There
are services that allow you to make a secure backup over the Internet.
This brings us to another issue. In the event all of your computers
are lost, what do you do? Where will you get replacements and how
will those replacements get to you?
Since your employees and co-workers are your business’ most
important assets, keep up-to-date contact information for all employees
and how and by whom they will be contacted in case of an emergency.
In addition, key emergency personnel including public safety officers
and your insurance broker should be identified and listed.
If you only have this information in your Outlook Contact files
on your server or PC, then you may find it impossible to reach that
information until your computers are restored. If you use a palm
pocket pc or other such device, keep it up-to-date. It is part of
computer back-up process. Keep a plain old paper copy in a fireproof
container at work and another copy at an off-premises location,
such as home.
A disaster communications plan should be in place. That plan should
contain critical information for employees, customers and public
safety personnel. You should decide, in advance, who the spokesperson
for your company will be.
Emergency Supplies
What emergency supplies do you need to have on hand? Think first
about the basics of survival: fresh water, food, clean air and warmth.
I provide my employees with bottled water at work. We have the normal
5-gallon water bottles delivered by a vendor. I keep more water
“in stock” than necessary. I do this for several reasons.
I want enough water at the company to maintain business, for example
for drinking, lunches and cleaning. I also want the ability to give
each of my employee’s water to take home if necessary. It
does not cost much money to do this.
Deciding to stay or Go
Depending on the scope of the emergency you may choose to take shelter
within your facility or to abandon your business. Have a plan in
place for either eventuality. Know clearly. In advance, who will
make this decision.
Fire Safety
Since fires are the most common of all business disasters, plan
evacuation procedures carefully. Fire drills are not just for schools
and office buildings. Each employee should know how they will exit
the facility and where they will meet afterwards.
Assign tasks in the case that an immediate evacuation is necessary.
This should include knowing who will:
* Contact employees;
* Contact emergency personnel;
* Contact your insurance agent or company;
* Document damage carefully, including taking photographs of damage;
* Oversee any needed emergency repairs;
* Maintain a log of repairs and all receipts for repairs
* Select and contact contractors (use contractors who are licensed,
insured and bonded)
Most fire departments are more than happy to provide assistance
in planning and advising in this area. Also, most local fire departments
will provide your staff training in how to use a fire extinguisher.
You should plan this exercise when your facilities fire extinguisher
needs to be recharged. Firemen will normally use a large tray in
which they put a small amount of gasoline out in your parking lot.
Employees are then able to use a fire extinguisher to put out the
fire.
Growth after the initial threat is gone.
Regardless of the type of disaster, we Americans and in particular
small business owners want to get back to the business of business.
Why not grow as a result? I am not suggesting profiteering in any
form. This not only is illegal but unethical. But if you happen
to be the one who has planned in advance, and is prepared, supplied
and open for business while your competition is not, then that is
the American way. Your current customers will appreciate you even
more. Your competitor’s customers will be more likely to want
to stay with you after the worst has passed. Being prepared, charging
a fair or normal price for your goods and being there for them in
the worst of times will translate to business in the best of times.
This is also a huge service to your community. Large companies such
as Home Depot are known to provide water and emergency supplies
during and after disasters. This is one of the most heroic things
a company can do. This is especially true if they are doing it at
low or no cost. Even though most of us with smaller businesses cannot
afford to do this - we can provide “rebuilding” support
to our communities by simply being open, stocked and priced fairly.
Though each situation is unique, your business can be better prepared
if you plan carefully, put emergency procedures in place, and practice
for emergencies of all kinds. America's businesses form the backbone
of the nation's economy; small businesses alone account for more
than 99 percent of all companies, employing 50% of all private sector
workers and providing nearly 45 percent of the nation's payroll.
In a nutshell, a business continuity plan is an umbrella for all
activities planned and implemented before, during and after the
event. These include plans for human needs, technologies and businesses.
Find help for making your plan to stay in business after a disaster
by visiting the following websites:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website for home
and business disaster planning www.ready.gov
The Small Business Administration’s disaster-assistance programs
www.sba.gov/disaster
Bill Bregar is the President of Loss Prevention Systems, Inc.
and is on the board GRA Board of Directors. Bill has over 26 years
in the LP industry. LPSI provides Loss Prevention services to businesses
including employee theft investigations, auditing, training, policy
and procedure development, pre-employment background checks and
alarm, CCTV and Checkpoint systems. He can be reached at 770-426-7593
x101 or at bbregar@LossPreventionSystems.com
|
