When most people think of emergency preparedness they think about what they need to do for their home and family. As a business owner, you know that it is equally important for your business to be prepared to weather the worst. Here are three important steps you can take to prepare your business for an emergency.
1. Have a Backup Power Source
For homeowners, a short power outage is an inconvenience. For your business, it’s lost income. Protect your bottom line by considering generator installs Philadelphia PA or in your neighborhood. Keep a diesel, propane or natural gas generator on your property along with at least 25 gallons of stabilized fuel. A newer option is installing a solar grid with backup batteries. Whichever path you choose, you’ll keep your doors open, registers working and climate control on. Especially if it is a neighborhood outage, you’ll have the advantage over local competitors who have to wait for the utility company to get things running again.
2. Create an Emergency Plan
Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. Sit down with your employees to discuss potential emergency scenarios, from weather disasters to active shooters and discuss how you will deal with each one. Assign leadership roles as necessary and make sure you have exterior meetup spots picked out well ahead of time. Review and utilize the emergency preparedness information provided by OSHA that runs through everything from hurricanes and flooding to wildfires and extreme heat. Once a year run through an emergency preparedness drill. Also, consider talking to your local police substation and fire department. Discuss their role if an emergency happens and provide them with a copy of your emergency plan if they’re part of your response.
3. Be Financial Prepared
Despite your best efforts, there is the potential that an emergency will impact you financially. The first order of business is to take your emergency plan scenarios to your insurance agent to discuss whether there is coverage available that could protect you from some emergencies. It’s important in your risk assessment to decide how likely any particular scenario is and weigh that against the cost of extra insurance coverage. Make sure your business has enough money set aside to get it through an extended shutdown. If you’re still building your emergency fun, apply for a line of credit that will carry you through.
When you take care of these three items you are well on your way to being ready for any eventuality, thriving while those around you flounder.
