Ian Magnani of Magnani Caruso Dutton (MCD) thought his small New York City-based business was prepared for Hurricane Sandy.
MCD, a digital customer experience agency, put its computerized records’ backup drives in a bank vault. Magnani thought the records were safe, he told The Hartford, an insurance company that surveyed 451 small businesses affected by Sandy. Unfortunately, Sandy knocked out power at MCD and the bank, which is a few blocks from MCD, and MCD couldn’t access its records for almost a week.
“Our backup files were too close to our current location,” Magnani told The Hartford, which summarized the findings of its survey in the March-April issue of Small Biz Ahead, the company’s magazine.
Today, MCD keeps its backup files in its Chicago office. It is one of many lessons that small businesses learned during and after the Oct. 29 hurricane. Preparing for an emergency has become more crucial because 2012 had more extreme weather than all but one year in U.S. history and 2011 had a record 14 weather-related $1 billion disasters, according to Small Biz Ahead.
Hurricane Sandy killed at least 159 Americans and caused at least $50 billion in property damage, the National Hurricane Center reported. Between 60,000 and 100,000 small businesses nationwide were negatively impacted by Sandy, according to the U.S. Chamber Foundation, Small Biz Ahead reported
Small businesses can minimize how much damage they will sustain in an emergency by following these 10 inexpensive tips.
1. CONTINUITY PLAN: Writing a plan for what your small business should do during and after the emergency is crucial. The plan should include making it clear who will make the decisions if the company’s leaders are unavailable and who will do the work of unavailable employees.
2. BACK UP DATA: CrashPlan, a data recovery software company, says small businesses should consider copying their files on online remote servers, according to BusinessNewsDaily. This is good solution for small businesses that, unlike MCD, don’t have two offices that aren’t close to each other.
3. PROPERTY INSURANCE: Reviewing your property insurance coverage is the most important step you can take to minimize the damage of a future disaster, according to The Hartford’s survey. The Small Business Administration (SBA) recommends scrutinizing your policy “to make sure you have enough coverage” to survive a disaster.
4. A GENERATOR: When power goes out, a secondary source of power to charge electronics such as a generator or extra phone batteries is important, according to CrashPlan. In fact, investing in a generator was the second most important step businesses can take to minimize the damage of a future disaster, according to The Hartford’s survey.
5. PRE-STORM MOVING: Moving important property away from windows and putting important property on elevated surfaces can minimize your property damage, according to CrashPlan.
6. EMERGENCY FUNDS: Putting aside money that will only be used in case of an emergency can help your small business survive if it has to be closed for a while. Small Biz Ahead recommends talking to an insurance agent about business income insurance that will reimburse you for lost income.
7. SUBSTITUTE SUPPLIERS: Forty-four percent of the small businesses that responded to The Hartford’s survey had problems with suppliers after Hurricane Sandy. Consequently, you should have a list of suppliers who can temporarily replace your ordinary suppliers before the storm hits.
8. CONTACT LISTS: Sixty-five percent of The Hartford survey’s respondents had problems with customers and 47 percent had problems with employees. You can minimize your problems by keeping and regularly updating your list of employees’ and customers’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses. The SBA recommends contacting every contact on the list after the disaster.
9. REPLACEMENT SITE: Black Enterprise magazine recommends selecting a site that can be used to conduct business operations if the company’s regular site can’t be used.
10. EMERGENCY KIT: The SBA advises small business owners to formulate an emergency kit. The kit should include “one gallon of water per person per day, a three-day supply of non-perishable food, a battery-powered radio, a flashlight with extra batteries, a first aid kit and a cooler to keep refrigerated food cold in case of a power outage.”
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