When it comes to how a business can achieve success, the typical responses are attributed to things like effective marketing, finding the right target audience, and smart decision-making skills. Well, what people fail to realize is that the success of a business is not only attributed to those factors (things you have control over), but its success is also dependent on what you do in situations that you no control over as well… like natural disasters.
As a business owner, natural disasters aren’t exactly the first things that come to mind when thinking about business risks… you know that they can drastically impact your business but you never really think about just how big of an impact it can have on your business. Whether it’s a flood, hurricane, or tornado, everything you’ve built and created can be gone in the blink of an eye.
From broken or damaged equipment to the safety of your employees, your business’ ability to bounce back from natural disasters can determine its future success. That’s why planning for natural disasters is so important… it might not be one of the top priorities of your business but you’ll be so glad you planned for it when and if it does happen.
One of the most important things you can do to plan and prepare for natural disasters is to get a general liability insurance policy… this will protect your business in the event of property damage due to a natural disaster. Just look at the Carribean… The Caribbean has seen so much devastation from natural disasters that is would seem impossible for any business to stand a chance of surviving there but businesses with the right disaster resilience planning and a solid business insurance policy, there is hope for any business.
Below are the areas where natural disasters have a direct impact on your business as well as tips on how to properly plan for them to give your business a fighting chance of survival.
Employee Safety
The safety of your employees should be your number one concern at all times but especially during a natural disaster. You should regularly go over emergency preparedness strategies with your employees to ensure they know what to do in a situation like natural disasters. If the news calls for a natural disaster of any type, you need to send them home immediately and close the store for your own safety as well… you can rest assured in knowing that you probably won’t be missing out on business if a tornado is approaching!
Assets
All equipment, company cars, etc can be severely damaged depending on the type of natural disaster it is and the severity of it. If it’s a company car or expensive equipment, you might not be able to bounce back from the loss of certain assets if you don’t have the right insurance policy to cover it… that’s why it’s so important to have business insurance… Yes, business insurance might feel like an unnecessary expense but when your business is hit a tornado that leads to floods, you’ll be so glad you made that investment.
Records
When natural disasters strike, it can affect the tracking of all your business records. Depending on the type of business you have, natural disasters can also cause you to lose very important records; important records like personal information of customers and banking records of your business… That goes for whether it’s on paper or digital but you have a better chance of saving those important records if you have a digital copy of that information in addition to the paper version of it. Always keep a digital backup of your important records.
Customers/Clients
Natural disasters can have a major impact on your customers as well. The fact that a natural disaster can shut down your entire operation means that there will be major delays and even refunds that you’ll have to give to customers. If you see that bad weather or a natural disaster could be heading your way, it’s important that you alert your customers of any changes that could happen with their orders or purchases due to the weather.
All in All
When it comes to protecting your business, you first and foremost need to have an emergency preparedness plan in place for your business, according to Occupational Health and Safety. When you have this plan in place, all other safety measures will fall into place.
