Tips to Preparing Your Southern California Business For Disaster

2/28/2018 (Permalink)

In California alone there are over 3 million small businesses. According to an NFIB National Small Business Poll, only 38% of these businesses have an emergency/disaster preparedness plan. Many people think that a disaster would never affect them, but natural disasters have impacted more than 30% of small businesses.

You never know when a disaster might strike your small business and once it does, it’ll be too late to develop a plan. How quickly you get back on your feet after a disaster hits depends greatly upon the amount of advanced planning you do for your business. If you haven’t already put a disaster plan in place for your business, now is the best time to start.

Here are seven steps to help prepare your business:

1. Risk Assessment: Identify what kinds of emergencies are most likely to affect your company then evaluate your preparedness level. Questions you can ask yourself include: Do we have emergency equipment on site? Do I have any employees trained to help in a medical emergency? Do we have our data backed up and stored someplace safe?

2. Review Your Insurance Coverage: Based on your risk assessment, talk with your insurance agent to make sure your business is covered should a disaster strike. Many times business owners think they have plenty of coverage, only to find out later that their policy didn’t cover a particular disaster situation.

3. Create a Contingency Plan: Review all your business operations and identify those areas most critical for your business survival. Establish a procedure for managing those functions in the event of a disaster. It may also be helpful to determine an alternate business location that you and your employees can continue to run business.

4. Create a Communications Plan: Establish a calling tree or create a password protected area where employees can report in. Deciding how communications will be managed in advance will minimize panic and the relay of misinformation.

5. Backup Your Data : Be sure to backup all of your data and keep it stored in a safe location off-site. Important documents such as contracts, business licenses, and corporate records should be kept in a fireproof box or bank lock- box.

6. Build an Emergency Kit: Keep an emergency kit on-site at all times. It should include items such as water, batteries, flashlights, a fire extinguisher, non-perishable food, water, a whistle, and first-aid items.

7. Review and Rehearse Your Plan: After making a plan, be sure to review and rehearse it with your team throughout the year, so when disaster strikes they will know what to do. You should also provide a copy of the plan to each employee as well.

Creating a disaster plan is simple, but crucial for your business. If you have trouble deciding how to prepare your Southern California business for disaster, call SERVPRO of Glendora/San Dimas and we can help you develop a SERVPRO Emergency READY Profile. Let us help you prepare your business for disaster!! Call Today 626.852.9922