fbpx

12 Ways Small Businesses Can Prepare for and Cope with Unforeseen Acts of God

Here are 12 precautionary and post-storm steps small business owners can take to manage the fallout from a super storm and cope with major business losses.

4. Keep up-to-date photos of your company offices on record.

Take digital photos of your office and store them off-site. You may need them for future insurance claims.

 5. Purchase business insurance.

Consider business insurance as a cost of doing business. Without insurance your company could be courting a potential legal disaster. There are various business insurance options available to cover a wide array of circumstances including property and casualty, commercial auto, liability, product liability, business interruption, health, life and disability and workers compensation insurance.

6. Consider building a safe room.

If your business location is in a geographical area prone to severe weather look into options for building and installing a safe room (also known as a panic room) at your business locationto protect yourself and employees from severe weather, and even intruders.

For instance, “a professionally built, two-person tornado safe room by the company Tornado Safe Room, costs just under $4,000 and boasts being strong enough to withstand 450 mph winds.”

This won’t be a necessary precaution for all businesses, but after you assess the potential risk and opportunity cost it may be advantageous. “Corporate safe rooms — fortified environments that act as a protective refuge — are an increasing necessity for people and organizations of all interests,” according to Security Info Watch.

“[TV] programs continue to mythologize safe rooms as an indulgence for the super rich or eccentric, actual events tell a different story: safe rooms are and have been an integral part of corporate structures and residences worldwide, an otherwise well-kept secret that immediately captures the public’s imagination.”

When most people think of safe rooms, they think of  acts of violence, but according to Businesssecurityinformation.com, a [flood-resistant] safe room at a place of business can also be used as a safe haven in times of emergencies (man-made or natural disaster).  A well-built and stocked safe room can be used by a business if a tornado is spotted or during the time of a threat from a severe thunderstorm.”

For an in-depth guide on citizen preparedness visit FEMA.gov and Ready.gov.

Did you enjoy this article? If so, subscribe to YFS Magazine and never miss an update. Don’t forget to make our friendship official and join Young, Fabulous & Self-Employed entrepreneurs on Facebook.

Photo Credit: The Day After Tomorrow Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

 

© YFS Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Copying prohibited. All material is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited. Sharing of this material under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International terms, listed here, is permitted.

   

In this article