Is your business ready for the next storm?
Working with small businesses, I have consistently seen similar problems and issues across numerous cities and industries. Surprisingly enough, these challenges were the same, independent of what businesses were involved. Storms have been a concern of mine for years going back to 2003.
When a storm is coming, you will not have a lot of time. In fact, there may not be a warning at all.
Those early discussions have become more important over time as the threat of hurricanes has seemed to increase over the years.
In 2017, the waters came quickly across southeast Texas with Hurricane Harvey. As is often the case, there was not a lot of time to prepare. You very rarely have an instance where you have three or four weeks to prepare for those storms. Mostly, you have just a couple of days.
Given the sudden time crunch of a storm in the Gulf, it becomes even more important to have been thinking ahead with regard to a plan of action for when disaster strikes. You do not need to be perfect, but there are things you should begin now to minimize the storm’s impact later. Along the way, you must not let “perfect” be the enemy of the “very good.” As the old Chinese proverb goes,
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
One of the first steps is to perform a needs assessment.
Often when first meeting with clients, I ask them “How big is the breadbox?” Other than confirming that I am old fashioned, this question is aimed at determining the dimensions of the situation. Simply, you cannot play a game if you do not know the shape of the field or how many people are playing on each side.
In terms of your business and this effort, that process is called a needs assessment. A needs assessment is a series of questions designed to capture what are the assets of the business and where they are located. In theory, it is easy to pull together, but, at the beginning, it may scare you a little bit when you start asking these questions because, in all likelihood, you do not know what you have or where it is.
So what are some of those questions?
- Can your business operate without computers, copier, fax machine, files, inventory, or special equipment (e.g., cash register, credit card readers)?
This question is focused on what is the essential equipment of your business, whether it be a computer or some other piece of technology that you need in order to continue operating. When considering your answer, include things like phones, adding machines, and other technology that you use as you are completing the work of the business.
2. Can your business operate without gas, power, water, internet, or telecommunications?
The first question dealt with the internal technology needs. In contrast, this question deals with the external needs of the company. Few business people think about the need for power and telecommunications until those systems fail.
3. Can you still operate your business without access to the damaged buildings?
This question addresses how damage to your physical plant after a storm will impact the business. It is often hard to answer this question, ahead of time because you don’t know what the damage is or what it will be. However, that should not prevent you from having a discussion about that damage and the potential impact.
4. Can you meet payroll if your business income is interrupted? If yes, how long.
This is one of the most important questions that you will ask, because if you cannot keep your employees paid, they will not keep working for you. And it will be very hard, if not impossible, for the business to continue.
If you don’t have good answers for your customers in the face of a storm, their doubt will kill you.
There are several strategies which can help maintain payroll in the face of a disaster. Some of those may be accessing insurance or keeping cash on hand — which may be important if your bank has been hit by the storm as well. Whatever direction you choose, it is much easier to consider it before a storm hits, rather than afterwards when you are having to scramble about so many things.
5. How will you communicate status with employees, key customers, vendors, and suppliers throughout your recovery?
Related to the last question, maintaining lines of communication will be extremely important as you respond to and recover from the storm. Sometimes maintaining such lines of communication can be made easy if there is a plan in place ahead of time.
6. Will your suppliers still be operational after a storm or will you have sufficient supplies on hand to continue without resupply?
Once you have completed this analysis for your own business, it often makes sense to ask your suppliers and other business partners the same sorts of questions. Having answered many of these questions yourself, you will have a better idea of what kind of answers you are looking for. They should appreciate the inquiry. And if they respond the right way, you will know that you have a true partner in your business’s success.
As you work your way through these questions, record the answers on paper so that you capture this information and have it somewhere where you can refer to it in the future. You might be tempted to just answer them and store them electronically. You will want to do both because if the power is down, there Is no guarantee that you will be able to get to the information after a storm. That situation might be more frustrating than not having done any of the work.
Please do not expect to be able to fully answer these questions the first time you try to pull together information. Honestly, if you can completely answer more than half of these questions, you are doing so much better than the vast majority of the businesses out there. You may not have a perfect set of answers, but it’s important to be thinking about those issues.
The key to success is beginning the plan, and making it part of your business’s work. You may never finish fully preparing, but, if a storm strikes, the consideration of these questions and the development of a needs assessment will help you and your business survive and thrive.
I have recently published a new book, Preparing Your Business for the Next Storm, which discussing this topic and other issues more fully. I hope that you will take a look and use this tool to be more ready for the next storm.
