The Benefits of Preparing Your Business for a Disaster | SERVPRO® of Western Dutchess County

12/17/2019 (Permalink)

Having a disaster plan in place for your business has huge benefits! Ask SERVPRO of Western Dutchess County how we can help!

Experiencing a natural disaster as a business owner in Dutchess County can be a major life event. There are so many questions about what to do and how to recover, with the main focus simply being to continue operations as quickly as possible.
To avoid being left stressed and uncertain after a disaster strikes, put a plan in place now for how you would handle a disaster that impacts your business. Planning ahead can reduce the damage a disaster causes, keep your staff safer and help you reopen quicker after the danger passes. Making disaster plans has big benefits for businesses. Here’s how:

Reduce the Damage a Disaster Causes to Your Business

Disasters can cause major damage to businesses even when business owners do everything
right, but a little bit of planning can reduce your losses exponentially. Making copies of essential
documents and keeping them in a secure, offsite location will ensure you do not lose any
important paperwork due to flooding, fires or other scenarios. Additionally, creating a
technology-focused disaster plan can help you protect any electronics in the workplace and
ensure you can recover all your digital files even if your main computer systems are impacted by
the disaster.

Increase the Safety of Your Workplace

Though some extremely small businesses are not required to have a written emergency plan, all
employers should communicate their plan to staff orally and consider creating a written one
even if they are not required to do so. Training employees on the procedures of a disaster, as
well as assigning people with roles and responsibilities to help you execute a safe emergency
evacuation, will increase the safety of your workplace and make sure that everyone in the
building feels prepared.

Decrease the Time It Takes to Reopen After a Disaster

Perhaps the most important reason to prepare for a workplace disaster is decreasing the time it
will take you to reopen. The Small Business Administration states that 25% of small businesses do not reopen following a disaster—if your business is your livelihood, you know just how devastating this can be. By doing what you can in advance to prevent damage and having a
plan in place for restoring your property and recovering following the disaster, your business can reopen much more quickly.

If you’re planning ahead to help protect your business from a disaster, contact us to learn more
about our commercial restoration processes and how we can help you recover quickly.