Simple Tips to Overcome Disaster

For the last 36 hours, tropical storm-force winds and outer rain bands from Hurricane Ike swept through Baton Rouge. By early morning, the power was knocked out for more than 15,000 people, including many businesses.

The local energy companies responded quickly and had most of it restored within hours. However, that did not stop rumors that the mayor was set to reimpose the Gustav curfew and force businesses to close for the day. The police department held a mid-day news conference to refute the rumors, but harm had already been done.

As if the weeks-long power outage had damaged the local economy enough, the last thing businesses needed was an unsubstantiated rumor that they were closed for the day. Savvy owners might have figured out ways to bring in the customers, but most probably suffered one more day (12 total) of lost revenue.

Business owners would do well to draw a few simple lessons from this series of disasters:

1. Have a plan to deal with the unexpected so you can resume critical functions as soon as possible.
2. Keep a cash supply easily accessible in case of emergency. This may be necessary to cover expenses, especially to pay employees to keep them around.
3. Invest in your own power source, even a modest one
4. Be creative in attracting customers in the aftermath of a crisis. In many cases, they need you to be available, even if they're not sure how to reach you.
5. Don't count on the government to rescue you, especially not in a timely manner. Sure, you can get a loan relatively quickly, but that's not the same as resuming business.

It is truly sad to know that a number of businesses will not survive this hurricane season simply because they weren't ready to meet this predictable scenario.

Disaster Preparedness Consulting, LLC