Every business owner, no matter what size, no matter how many employees, no matter the annual sales, must think about the time when something bad happens to the business.

In thinking about those bad things you begin thinking about what to do when they happen and how your business will continue to operate. Here are some things to keep in mind as you lie awake at night thinking, What if?

1. Do all of your employees know where the emergency exits are? Do they know what to do if they see something bad is happening? (e.g. something fills the room, water drips from the ceiling, etc.) You might be surprised at what people don’t know.
2. Do NOT worry about the cause of the disaster, but rather think about the impact a disaster, any disaster, will have on your business. For example, what if there is a fire down the street and the street is closed. How will you run your business if you can’t get to it?
3. Can your employees still accomplish some work if they can’t get to the business? Perhaps you can arrange a way for some work to be done away from the work place or at home.
4. Do you have emergency equipment in the business, such as fire extinguishers? Has your staff been trained on how to use that equipment?
5. Make a list of every critical system in the business. That is, what people or pieces of equipment or what data is essential to running the company? Now think about what you would do if any of those critical systems were suddenly removed or you no longer had access to them.
6. Where do you keep financial assets such as banking information or insurance policies? Is there a safer place to put those documents? What other funding or financial resources might be available, if any, in the event of a disaster?
7. What about your information assets, all of the paper kept on desks and in file drawers? That is just as important as the other assets in your business and its loss might mean that you cannot collect on invoices, or pay your employees. Would it be safer if it was digital and stored off-site?
8. Do you have a method of contacting customers to assure them that you and your business are still operating? In other words, plan on making a statement to the media about the situation even if your business was not directly affected.
9. The phone system might go down for any number of reasons. Do you have a method in place for communicating with employees and customers? Almost everyone has a cell phone and this may well be a good time to make a list of those numbers.
10. Has someone been assigned to assist in recovering from the disaster? Who reprograms the phone systems or reboots the servers? Is your IT guy on site or is he a contract employee? Make sure he or she is part of your planning.
11. Get some help in your planning. Your insurance agent may be able to bring in an expert to point out risks and how to correct them. The utility companies (water, gas, electric) often have programs in place, or can provide information, on what to do in an emergency. They may even be able to send someone out to assess your business or work place for safety and disaster prevention, as well as offer suggestions on how to cut costs. The fire department is another good source for disaster planning. All of these people and organizations would rather talk to you before the incident then after when the impact is much greater and the costs much higher.
12. If you are not the business owner, then you must get the support of management in your efforts. That might take some selling on your part, but your preparations and planning may be the things that keep the company running.

There is a wealth of information available on the web for disaster planning and recovery. We would be interested to know if these short considerations have been helpful in your preparations. Contact us at www.docxplore.com.