Don’t Ignore These Crucial Emergency Steps for your Business
July 17, 2024

Don’t Ignore These Crucial Emergency Steps for your Business

In today’s unpredictable world, it’s a wise step to have some emergency plans in place. When thinking about emergency planning, most people think of plans to safeguard our families.  However, businesses must also develop strategies to ensure they can recover from emergencies. Whether it’s a natural disaster, cyberattack, or unforeseen crisis, having a robust preparedness plan is crucial.

Shocking Business Recovery Statistics:

  • Post-Disaster Survival:Around 40% of businesses do not reopen after a disaster, and approximately 25% of businesses fail within one year after experiencing a major disaster.  (Fema) ) (iCorpsblog)
  • Cost of Downtime:The average cost of downtime for businesses is nearly $4,500 per minute, which can quickly accumulate to significant financial losses during prolonged outages.(BusinessDIT)
  • Data Loss Impact:93% of businesses that experience a prolonged data loss of 10 days or more file for bankruptcy within one year, and 51% of businesses that suffer data loss close within two years. (BusinessDIT) (Invenio IT)
  • Disaster Preparedness:Despite the risks, only 54% of organizations have a company-wide disaster recovery plan in place, highlighting the need for better preparedness.(Invenio IT)

You’ve heard the below steps for your personal home plan, but what about your business? Here is how you can apply the same steps to help protect your business:

  1. Risk/Threat Assessment: Conduct a thorough risk assessment to understand potential threats specific to your industry and location, including natural disasters, power failures, cyber threats, and inventory disruptions.
  2. Create a Plan: Develop a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that outlines procedures for maintaining essential functions during a crisis event. Identify the critical operations, key personnel, and necessary resources.
  3. Build an Emergency Kit: Ensure your business has emergency supplies such as water, food, first aid kits, backup power sources, and essential tools to maintain operations and protect onsite employees during a disruption.
  4. Establish Communication Strategies: Develop a communication plan that includes both internal and external communication strategies. Ensure employees, stakeholders, and customers are promptly informed about the situation and any necessary actions to take.
  5. Educate & Train: Train your employees on emergency response, procedures and the business continuity plan. Conduct regular drills to ensure everyone is familiar with their roles and responsibilities in a crisis event.
  6. Protect Your Assets: Implement strong cybersecurity measures, regular data backups, and secure remote access solutions. Ensure critical business data is stored in multiple locations and easily recoverable.
  7. Build Strong Relationships: Build strong relationships with suppliers, vendors, and other key partners. Strive to develop mutual aid agreements and contingency plans to support each other during emergencies.
  8. Financial Preparedness: Ensure your business is financially prepared to handle emergencies. Set aside an emergency fund, review your insurance policies regularly, and understand your coverage should there be a crisis.
  9. Evacuation & Shelter Plans: Create an evacuation and shelter plan for your employees. Identify safe routes, designate assembly points, and ensure all employees are familiar with these procedures with regular review.
  10. Review & Update Regularly: Regularly review and update your preparedness plan to reflect changes in your business, technology, and the external environment. Conduct periodic drills and reassess your risks to ensure the plan remains effective and relevant.

Taking the time to put a business emergency plan in place can be a crucial step to surviving the immediate impact of a crisis, but also empowers businesses to recover faster and emerge stronger, more resilient, and ready to thrive after a crisis.

Back to News
Tags