While nobody likes to have to worry about the worst happening, disaster can strike your business at any time. And the difference between whether keeping afloat through the terrible times or sinking and going under comes down to forward planning.
It is important to have a plan. Without a plan, you are putting your employees and your business at risk.
Here are some ways that you can protect your business from disaster.
Research the Threats
Some disasters can appear to come out of the blue. However unprecedented the occurrence seems, there is a strong chance that it has affected other businesses in the past.
Knowing what the threats are can be helpful. If your business operates in an area that is prone to flooding or is in an area of high seismic activity will mean that you should have contingencies in place in order to deal with these situations.
Read up on any government guidelines for dealing with disasters.
Protecting Your Physical Workspace
If your business premises are in an area that is known to be affected by flooding, earthquakes, or any severe weather conditions such as hurricanes, then you need to take measures to protect your building.
This could mean using tilt up building retrofit services to make your premises resistant to earthquakes, or measures to minimize the risk of flooding such as installing backflow preventers in your sewerage systems.
Taking Care of Your Workforce
If there is one thing that is more important than protecting your buildings, it is ensuring the safety of your workforce.
Carrying out regular evacuation drills and ensuring all of your team are fully briefed on what to do in the event of an emergency should be a very high priority. You should also carry our refresher training on emergency and evacuation procedures often.
Have a plan for what you would do in the event of a major issue affecting your business being able to operate. Is it possible to work from home during periods of high-risk due to severe weather? If there are measures that you can take to avoid your employees being on-site during or following a disaster, having a contingency plan for continued training will be beneficial.
Have Insurance in Place
Insurance is obviously something that all businesses need. However, if you are in areas that face a higher risk of natural disaster you should prepare your business for the worst financially by increasing the level of insurance to accommodate the risk.
Putting money aside to use as a buffer to keep your business afloat during difficult times can also be helpful. If you run your business based on what is in hand following a natural disaster, you may struggle to even pay employees. Having a safety net may keep you solvent.
Make sure that your documents are safely stored and accessible via cloud-based storage. There may be important materials that could get lost if your premises are ever severely damaged due to a disaster.
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