Copyright 2005 Denise OBerryAs fast as you can say business disaster, your business can
go up in smoke. That's what happened a while back to Castle
Carpet One. Gone were thousands of dollars worth of
equipment and carpet, plus two smaller businesses that were
housed in the same building. Luckily the owners, Larry and
Diane Cox, had plenty of business insurance to cover their
physical losses. But they lost their most important
business asset - customer records - because of failed back
up systems. Rebuilding their customer base will be tough
and the long-term revenue impact is hard to measure.=20
With disasters like hurricanes, tornados, fires, floods and
terrorism, to name a few, it's critical for small companies
to have a disaster plan. And for companies with only one
location, it's even more important. One location companies
have the potential to lose the entire business if disaster
strikes. For a home-based business, it's even worse. You
could lose your home and your business in one swoop. Any
small business owner can minimize the damage by simply
having proactive strategies in place to deal with an
emergency when it happens. What if:=20
- You arrive at your business to find it vandalized and all
of your customer records missing?=20
- Your most critical employee becomes ill and requires an
extended absence?=20
- Your computer hard drive (or network) crashes?=20
- You become the primary care giver for a sick family
member?=20
- You become ill and can't manage your customer
commitments?=20
- Your business becomes inaccessible because of an
emergency on your street?=20
What would you do? Would your business survive? What would
you grab if you had to leave your business quickly? After
the emergency, how would you communicate with your
employees? Customers? How long would it take to get back to
business as usual?=20
Without a disaster plan, you'll have a harder time getting
back to work. Most businesspeople think it will just take
two or three days. That's tough to do if you have no plan
for action and little money to move forward. The reality,
experts say, is more like several months and at least 25
percent of businesses that experience a disaster never
reopen.=20
But most small business owners just don't make time for
planning. We think it's "never going to happen to us." It
could. The time to formalize a game plan for an emergency
is before it happens. Do it now.=20
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Denise O'Berry is a small business consultant located in
Florida. For disaster planning tools and tips, visit
http://www.myhurricanecenter.com.=20
