Are you prepared for Mother Nature?
A couple of days ago here in the Midwest we experienced a strange storm, within 15 minutes we had 70 mph winds and heavy rain – then poof! it was gone. Within those 15 minutes over 800,000 homes and businesses lost power for a day or more (including me). The storm made it’s way across the area within a couple of hours doing the same to many towns and cities.
Many businesses had to close. If this happened to you – what would you do?
Obviously being without power makes it very difficult to work in this electronic and internet age, however the question goes beyond that. Here are some questions to consider:
- Do you pay your employees for the day?
- How do you handle the calls coming into your business, if there is no power?
- How do you inform your customers about your status?
- What about any shipments or services that were to be performed that day(s)?
- Do you have backup power for your computer servers?
After a while, you could probably think of a few more questions for your particular business.
The time to think about how to handle this situation is not when you are in the middle of it – it’s now. It is much easier to think rationally and to put plans into place when the emergency is not occurring. This shouldn’t be a do-it-by-yourself exercise – get your team involved and ask them the same questions and listen to their responses. A few may already have had experience and could offer valuable insight.
To borrow from the Boy Scouts “Always be Prepared”.
Has this happened to you – what did you do?
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