How to Create a Small Business Disaster Plan in Ten Easy Steps

How to Create a Small Business Disaster Plan in Ten Easy Steps

Having just been evacuated due to Storm Rita, I can attest to the fact that both the evacuation and the subsequent hurricane were successful. A storm is something I've never had to do, and it's not something I'd ever want to do again. However, as a lone entrepreneur, I'm grateful for the convenience of running a virtual company. I was able to resume my company only four days after Hurricane Rita made landfall because of the fact that I'm virtual and can work from anywhere there's power and phone connectivity.

What can you do, as a sole proprietor, to ensure that your firm is impervious to disaster? As more and more hurricanes make landfall in coastal areas, I'm beginning to believe that there isn't an optimal place to run a company due to the rising frequency of natural catastrophes like tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, mud slides, ice storms, and blizzards. In light of the fact that natural catastrophes are a fact of life, here is what I learnt from my storm evacuation:

Where your important documents are stored, Your marriage licence, birth certificate, social security card, driver's licence or state ID, car title/mortgage information and insurance contact information, house deed/mortgage information and insurance contact information, employee ID card, and apartment lease or copy of a utility bill should all be kept in a folder for your convenience. Anyone seeking disaster aid will have to provide documentation proving their identity and whereabouts in the event of a calamity.

Back up all of your computer data to the cloud.I use both an external portable hard drive and an internet backup service to back up my PC. In order to ensure that nothing happens to my files, which are my livelihood, I utilise both of these services at the same time. I use an Iomega , 30 GB portable drive for my external backup,10 GB for my internet backup.

Make a list of all the people you need to get in touch with. During the evacuation period, I made a list of everyone I needed to reach out to and copied their phone numbers, emails, and physical addresses onto a USB flash drive (a key chain device with 512 MB or 1 GB of memory — I use one from Lexar, www.lexar.com). This included friends, clients, and family members I needed to stay in touch with. Additionally, you'll want to include the contact information for your children's school and local media websites so that you may check on the current functioning state of your children's school. 

I relied on the websites of Beaumont's newspapers, television, and radio stations to stay up to date on the latest news in my hometown. If you use Outlook to manage your contact information and also have a Yahoo account, you may use Yahoo's synchronisation tool to transfer your Outlook data to your Yahoo account. You may learn more about intsync at http://help.yahoo.com/help/. To access your information on Yahoo, all you need is a computer and knowledge of your login credentials.

It is important to know what kind of computer and office equipment you will need to get your firm started. Due to my two-month stint as a home sitter for a friend, I recently had to make do with just the bare essentials of my office setup. So, as soon as I got the evacuation order, I knew I'd need my desktop PC, flat panel monitor, wireless mouse and keyboard, speakers, modem and wires, backup portable external hard drive, office telephone and cords, laptop computer, printer, software box, and scanner to operate my company. Despite the fact that it seems to be a substantial amount of gear, I was able to fit it all into two UHaul moving boxes (1 small and 1 medium box). I figured I could go at least two months with this bare-bones setup.

Client/business primary paper files I have two sets of files: one for the near future, which I use regularly, and the other, in a lateral file drawer, which I use more for reference. A little UHaul box was all I needed to transport the contents of my two-drawer file cabinet (containing my short-term files), which fit perfectly.

A second phone line strategyBecause my customers are spread out throughout the United States and Canada, I wasn't sure how I was going to handle my business's phone service. It was a good idea to update my mobile phone plan and have an AT & T calling card (www.samsclub.com) on hand in case I wanted to contact someone. To my luck, my hotel offered an extra $1.88 per day to sign up for an unlimited Internet and long-distance package, saving me a lot in phone and Internet service expenses.

Having a backup Internet plan I had to locate a place to stay while my home's electricity was off for 2–8 weeks. A hotel with high-speed Internet service was found and used by me. It worked well. However, after finding the hotel, I also phoned the tech support of my DSL ISP and obtained the local dial-up numbers for the region where the hotel is situated. I never had to use dial-up, but it was helpful to know about it. In the event that your cable or DSL Internet service goes down, now is the time to look into other Internet connection options so that you can still go online. If you don't have access to a computer, you should also know how to access your email via your Internet service provider (ISP). You may use www.mail2web.com for free if your Internet service provider doesn't provide webmail.

Office supplies that will last a month or more. For at least a month while I was on vacation, pens, pencils, post-it notes, and other business supplies were included in my carry-on bag for at least a month. To transport these materials, I utilised a small, lightweight plastic file box.

Your office processes should be laid out in detail so that you can function on your own or assign work. To manage my business, I either have all of the information I need in my mind, or I keep it in a variety of files on my computer. Documenting all of my office processes, computer information, and customer information now will save me time and effort in the future. I may then save this document on my USB flash drive, my Yahoo account, or my backup files. You may use a template prepared by my colleague Jean Hanson in order to keep track of all the information necessary for resuming operations. For more information, or to buy a copy, visit this page: The Home Office Procedures Manual. http://tinyurl.com/bagxs s10.

Use a digital camera to take photos and videos of the incident, as well as to document any property damage. A digital camera would have been ideal for documenting what I saw while fleeing Hurricane Rita. There were a lot of photos taken by my sister, but if I could have had the same chance, I would have. However, the requirement for a digital camera to document damage to your house and possessions is more critical. Your insurance adjuster may not be able to examine the damage to your home for many weeks after a widespread catastrophe. In the meantime, repairs like tarping your roof, boarding up broken windows, clearing your yard of fallen trees, and emptying out your refrigerator must be done in the meantime. In most circumstances, the "before" situation must be documented meticulously in order for you to collect reimbursement for your loss from your insurance company.

Natural disasters may have devastating consequences for your company. Get started on your disaster-preparedness plan right away, and then get back to work as soon as you can!