In an earlier blog post, we talked about how to create a family emergency plan in case of flooding or other disasters. While a family plan is important, it’s also important to have an emergency plan for your business. Business emergency plans help companies prepare for and recover from disasters.
Generally, developing an emergency plan for your business consists of the following steps:
- Risk assessment. Identify possible risks to your business. What events could limit sales or stop production? Which events would have the most impact?
- Strategy development. What strategies could help prevent these events or lessen their impact?
- Action plan development. Determine how to put some of these strategies in place. Who will do what? Which strategies have highest priority?
- Update and review. Your business emergency plan is a living document. Periodically review and update it as your business changes.
Small businesses are especially vulnerable to disruption because they have fewer resources and less financial backing to absorb losses. Fortunately, Ready.gov has templates available for business continuity planning and emergency response planning to make the process easier. By working through these templates and implementing each step, the chances of your business successfully surviving a disaster or emergency will be greatly improved.
If you’re not sure how prepared your business is to deal with and overcome flooding or other emergencies, the American Red Cross has an online emergency preparedness self-assessment tool to measure the emergency preparedness of organizations. The test is free, but you’ll need to register.
Flood vent installation is an important part of emergency planning for many families and businesses. Flood Solutions FEMA compliant flood vents are easy to install in homes and commercial/industrial buildings. For more information about making flood vents part of your emergency plans, contact the flood vent team at Flood Solutions.
