5 Steps to Prepare for an Emergency — Before it Happens
What if…you had no communications, no server and no idea of the state of your office, church or school? For most business owners and managers, this sounds like a terrible nightmare. But for anyone who has suffered through a major catastrophe like a fire, flood or hurricane, it can feel as if your entire business has been swept out from under your feet. Add the trauma of lost revenue, down time and repair costs and things can quickly become even worse. That’s why it’s so important to have a comprehensive plan in place before disaster strikes. At Restoration Specialists, we know how devastating it can be to lose your most valuable assets as the result of a catastrophe. So, we decided to share some basic preventative and planning tips to help you respond more effectively, instead of simply reacting. You can’t predict a disaster — but you can prepare for it.
1. Are You Covered? Review your insurance policy to be sure it’s up to date, and provides coverage for interruption of business. And, since flood insurance is typically NOT included in property coverage, you may want to consider purchasing a separate flood insurance policy. Following Hurricane Katrina, many property owners were denied coverage as the hurricane’s corresponding storm surge was considered a flood, and therefore, was not covered under property insurance. If you live in an area prone to certain types of natural disasters, such as tornadoes or hurricanes, you may want to consider adding coverage for these types of events, as well.
2. Plan For the Worst: To help your office minimize problems following a catastrophe, prepare a plan detailing the responsibility of each employee in the case of a hurricane, for example, and think through issues such as loss of power to your servers, e-mail and communication systems. Consider how you will be able to communicate with your employees and customers following a major disaster. And most importantly, share your plan with each employee, and ensure they understand what to do in advance of the catastrophe. When you’re working as a team, with a solid plan in place, you’ll be more prepared to respond wisely, minimize damage, and keep your business running smoothly as you recover.
3. Protect Your Records: If you store a lot of paper documents, you might want to consider housing them with a document storage provider, investing in fire- and/or water-resistant file cabinets, or converting your documents into digital format and backing them up with a disaster recovery solution. The loss of data can sometimes be as disastrous as the loss of physical property, so be sure not to skip this critical step.
4. Workplace Safety: Be sure you’re up-to-date on workplace safety, and hold regular briefings with employees. If you don’t already have a Safety Plan at your office, consider creating one, and assign a responsible employee the role of Safety Director. By creating a Safety Plan, you will be better prepared to protect your most critical assets - your employees.
5. Have A Response Plan: One of the most important decisions you can make is to select a qualifed firm today that you can count on following a catastrophe. Interview a reputable emergency response company, such as Restoration Specialists, well in advance of storm season. Once you have selected the right firm to meet your needs, you can feel comfortable knowing that you are more prepared than many of your competitors! It is still amazing to me that more firms have not taken this preliminary step. After all, the last thing you want to do is lose time searching for an emergency responder in the "middle of the night". A professional emergency response firm should be able to arrive at your property within minutes of your call, assess damage and begin implementing a restoration plan that will put you on the road to recovery much faster than your competitors.
As a leading provider of disaster recovery services, we know how expensive operational downtime can be to our clients. We have invested in communications, power, equipment and personnel, and can offer turnkey construction services to help you minimize potential damage and repair costs. Call us today to help you develop an Emergency Response Plan. Then, if disaster strikes — you can be back in business in no time!
Mark A. DeMattia is President of Restoration Specialists, a Dallas, Texas-based full service emergency response and commercial construction firm (www.restorationspec.com). Mr. DeMattia also currently serves as Principal and Director of Acquisitions for Keystone Strategies USA, LP, (www.kystn.com) a commercial real estate investment firm.
