Hurricane Season Is Half Over
The hurricane
season is half over and we've just had our first tropical storm! If
you didn't do any preparations for the possibility of getting blown
away, congratulations! You are half-way home without lifting a
finger!
If, on
the other hand, we get really nailed before the sea s on is over,
well, too bad. Maybe you can recover from the damage and maybe you
can't. A complete lack of planning generally results in a bankrupt
business. Tropical Storm Gabrielle was a wake up call for all
businesses in Charlotte County.
There
are many areas of assistance for small businesses here in the
Charlotte County. Even the Chamber of Commerce has a free CD to
enlighten the small business owner about disaster preparedness.
Preparing for your business is different than preparing for your home
or boat. In your home, making the house habitable again is the prime
concern.
Without
power, if there is no glass to repair your broken windows, no power
for the air conditioning, and no screens for the windows, the Florida
heat and bugs will make life pretty miserable.
Cooking
on a camp stove becomes routine and ice becomes more important than
you could ever believe. Your refrigerator will stink. Tap water
becomes undrinkable. The word visquine becomes part of your
vocabulary. Staying dry with temporary roofing and sleeping without
nature's intruders becomes a way of life. Your business, however,
faces a far different set of problems.
The loss of cash flow
from a disaster will undoubtedly impact your
business, perhaps causing bankruptcy. A loss of power for several
days may be just an inconvenience, nothing more than dead batteries
in your cell phone and two or three days of lost revenue.
Flooding
may keep customers away for several days, if it doesn't ruin your
inventory. Most businesses can suffer several days loss without
having to close the doors permanently. However, putting a new roof
on your building or getting a new Certificate of Occupancy may take
six months to a year. maybe longer .
Many
buildings, shopping centers, and malls in South Florida were severely
damaged and unusable (or more than a year after Andrew. Many
businesses did not reopen. Even the smallest firm should have some
form of Business Continuity Plan. It doesn't have to be a
multi-volume set of binders, just a plan to get the company back on
its feet. Identifying the risks to a company and developing a plan
to repair, replace or substitute those items are the premise of any
plan.
One of
the prime items to have is same form of Business Continuity
Insurance. It is a must-have item if you plan to maintain a company
income and maintain payroll. Your responsibilities to your employees
are more than making sure they have ID badges so they can return to
work in a controlled or damaged area.
Remember,
they are concerned about their families and houses just as you are.
The loss of cash flow for them can be disastrous. But hey, the
hurricane season is half over and football season is here. Let's
drop the tailgate and get serious!
George Mindling ©
2001
