I’ve studied disasters for over 15 years, documenting how social networks help individuals and businesses respond and recover.  But this is the first time that I’ve really experienced the “productivity hit” a disaster can bring to a small business.  Four days without power meant spending most of every day standing in line for ice and limited food supplies in stores, keeping our generator running, and doing basic tasks.

I learned some good lessons that we’re incorporating into our disaster plan for our business and our family.  If you don’t have a good disaster plan in place, my advice is to get one, right away!

And like other business owners, I have the dual concern of ensuring that not just our family but also our business is safe and secure.

We’re lucky, on both fronts:  We have a good disaster preparedness system in place.

What does that mean?  For our family, it means we won’t be scrambling today and in the days to come, starting from scratch to make sure we’re prepared.  Because our generator, our food and water, most of the things we’re likely to need are already in place.  We just need to add the last-minute items, such as gas to run the generator and extra supplies of water.

And in our business?  There’s not really much to do.

• Our insurance policies are up to date (once the warnings go up, you can’t make changes) and we have copies of everything scanned into our computer files, along with tax records and other items we’d need to apply for post-disaster SBA assistance.
• Those computer files?  Our offsite data backup system ensures that ALL of our files are backed up constantly–and we can access those data from any location.  That costs us less than $50 per year, per computer.
• Because our business is home-based, our generator and power inverters can perform dual duty, ensuring that we can charge cell phones and operate laptops.  We have extra batteries for all of these things.  And our family disaster supplies take care of our “staff.”

What about YOUR business–would you be ready, if your business lay in Gustav’s sites?

We talk constantly about the need for a survey system, as one of the integral systems and processes of your business.  That’s critical.  But having good information about your customer base doesn’t matter if those data, and your business, aren’t protected.

Even if your area isn’t hurricane-prone, you’re vulnerable.

All businesses are vulnerable to fire and terrorism, for example.

Almost everyone is vulnerable to at least one type of natural disaster, whether it’s earthquakes, wildfires, blizzards, tornadoes, or some other threat.

And if you think it isn’t a big deal, that it isn’t worth the investment, consider the fact that 42% of New Orleans’ small businesses failed to reopen within the first year after Katrina.  Sadly, data show that the ones who did survive aren’t ready now, as Gustav prepares to enter the Gulf.

Do yourself a favor–use Gustav as a reminder to get your business ready for the worst.  Because if the worst happens and you AREN’T ready, none of the other systems and processes matter.