Hurricane Coming and Not Prepared? Here are 20 Ways to Protect Your Small Business

Monitor the National Weather Service and the Office of Emergency Management for updates and for preparing.

I am a native of Houston and have faced many storms in my lifetime. Some storms were hurricanes like Alicia and Ike, others were tropical thunderstorms such as Allison that caused $5 billion in damage to Houston and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, many experiencing damage were small businesses that were caught off guard and subsequently, suffered a loss of property and sales.

And now, as I am writing this article, Hurricane Harvey is about 300 miles off the Texas Gulf Coast. This is the first hurricane in the region in 10 years; and while many organizations repeatedly say to prepare for a hurricane during the off season versus a couple of days before landfall, unfortunately, many small business owners are most likely not prepared. So, below are 20 ways to protect your small business ahead of a nasty storm.

1. If you have insurance, contact your insurance agent to review your coverage
2. Make a list of assets including all inventory.
3. Back up all electronic files, upload to a cloud environment, and secure critical paper documents in a safe place
4. Draft an employee emergency contact and protocol list
5. Create an emergency resource list including SBA Disaster Recovery, your banker, insurance agent, Red Cross, Fire, Police, City, Hospitals, and others
6. Make alternative arrangements for deliveries.
7. Call your banker to check on your Line of Credit, credit card limits and overdraft fees.
8. Gather, store or distribute to employees as needed all back-up equipment such as cell phone, air cards, tablets, laptops, safety gear, etc.
9. Alert any key client accounts of possible delays in completing tasks or arrange for another solution to serve their needs.
10. Review or draft a high-level risk mitigation plan that includes the most critical areas and what action to take if impact occurs.
11. Check and document renewal dates of licenses, certifications, registrations
12. Make sure all login access information to data bases, online banking, applications, etc. are secured and key employees have access as a back-up measure.
13. Have back-up keys to office, file cabinets, etc.
14. Contact your cell phone provider – our business cell phone representative with Sprint saved us during Hurricane Ike where she couriered over 4 air cards and a couple of cell phones to keep our core team working through the storm and after power was out for days.
15. Change your out of office message and forward calls where needed
16. Keep a positive attitude – complaining will create havoc in your small business quicker than an ice cream cone melting on a hot July day in Texas. Stay positive and be grateful for the wisdom to protect your business and the ability to serve your customers.
17. Help others – universal laws show that helping others help you in some way and in time.
18. Rebound and be ready to serve your customers as soon as possible
19. Send communications to employees that shows you care about their families, includes emergency numbers to organizations to contact
20. Pay any critical bills before shutting down

In Conclusion

As a small business, there are many things you cannot control and some things you can control in your organization and preparing before the hurricane season is one of those areas you control. Use the above suggestions as a checklist and consider visiting sba.gov for additional resources on developing disaster plans.

Have you been in a natural disaster and have preparation tips? I welcome your feedback so I can share with other small businesses.

About the author: Helen Callier, President of Bradlink LLC, an SBA award winning small business, is the author of bestselling ‘Your Money is in the Follow up’, The Why, When, Where, Who, What, and How to Follow up Guide for Small Businesses. Helen is also a recognized advocate for small businesses and speaks nationally to small business audiences on practical tips on how to drive your small business vehicle to success.

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