A Guide for Developing a Small Business Disaster Recovery Plan

Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area in 2005 and shut down nearly 8,000 businesses until the next year. Residents and business owners on the East Coast experienced the same devastation last year in 2012 when Sandy swept through New York City and the surrounding area. Although federal aid was disseminated during both disasters, Katrina and Sandy also illustrated a general lack of business preparedness for when disaster strikes.

Government Assistance

Fortunately, the government had better preparation plans instated after Katrina struck. Thus, the long-term effects of Sandy were relatively less damaging. The Small Business Administration approved loans upwards of $2.3 billion, and home and business owners alike began to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. These loans helped cover repair costs of physical locations, equipment and machinery, inventory, and fixtures. The SBA will provide up to 20 percent more than the damage total if you make improvements that can protect your business against potential disasters.

While SBA loans are only temporary funds that business owners work to pay back, the SBA also secured $19 million in grants to help out business owners affected by the tropical storm. Similar options were available to victims of hurricane Katrina. These funds are often on a first come, first served basis, and they may not cover all of your needs.

Disaster Recovery Planning

It’s not always just the government’s responsibility to prepare small businesses for a natural disaster. Protect your business by extensively prepping for a disaster, as opposed to waiting around for the SBA to provide an emergency loan. To start, back up confidential data to a cloud service. Sync files to Dropbox or SugarSync, or rely on a service like Google Apps for Business to back up emails, contacts and files. Ensure your staff members can access this data from any device.

Unfortunately, small businesses can take longer to pick back up as evident with hurricane Katrina. But just because you don’t have a multi-million dollar company behind you doesn’t mean that a disaster will end your business.

Just like you’d insure your house, belongings and vehicles, protect business assets with commercial insurance online. Insurance provides your staff and you, just like your family, with a sense of security.

Business insurance establishes a safety net for uncontrollable circumstances, and it’s not just limited to natural disasters. For instance, businesses and professionals, such as chiropractors and computer technicians, require liability insurance. In an increasingly-digital world, insurance companies specialize in protection services against data breach — digital disasters can be just as devastating, if not more, than a natural disaster.

As you evaluate various types of business insurance, keep in mind coverage could determine whether your business can weather a storm – natural or otherwise – or result in the demise of your livelihood.

Contributed by Henry Tinsley. Henry teaches business courses and ESL at his local community college.