Before Disaster Strikes
Have a remote working location. Your operations need to continue, no matter what the weather. Having a remote working location will ensure you can continue to provide for your customers during and after an incident. The location should be removed from the center location, in a safe area, and have all the necessary supplies that you will need to continue operations. In your plan, decide when you and your associates will move to the remote location, what equipment is necessary, and which employees are expected to go and what they are expected to do.
Create an easily accessible contact list. Contact clients or service providers if you close down your office. Keep all your clients' contact information in one central location that you can easily grab if you decide to vacate. You should also keep a copy in a remote location.
Develop a buy-sell agreement. If something bad should happen to you during a catastrophe, your family could be caught in a precarious financial position, especially if your business is adversely affected by the disaster or your death. Having a buy-sell agreement ensures that your family will get the fair market for your part of your business and the other business partner will be charged with the responsibility of continuing the business.
Get proper commercial property insurance. If your property is damaged during a storm or other disaster, you won't get compensated unless you have the right commercial property insurance. Even if you work out of your own home, your homeowners insurance will not cover any losses unless you have special endorsements that spell out the coverage for your home office supplies.
Automate your payroll system. Everyone still needs to get paid-especially during a disaster. Make sure you set up automatic bank transfers or some other kind of system to pay your employees.
Planning for a disaster is the responsibility of every business owner-whether they employ a staff of 75 or just themselves. Doing so will help keep you calm and keep business running as smoothly as possible during a disaster and will help ensure you have a business to go back to when it's all over.
Your Plan for a Disaster:
Set guidelines for when to close down the office. Some storms come upon us with some warning. Storm season may bring tornados, tropical storms or hurricanes watches. You must decide what parameters will surround the closing of your office and how to notify employees to not come in.
Decide when and how to notify clients. If business gets interrupted and you are not going to be able to serve clients, then you need to create a means for notification system for your clients. Use a remote email and update the home page of your website with a message about the shut-down of your office. If possible, ask your employees to make some phone calls from where they've evacuate to.
Create a plan for reopening your office. Come up with a plan with detailed information about when you expect work to begin again after the disaster. Consider post-disaster clean-up efforts and safety matters while being considerate of the personal needs of your employees during this time.
Talking with a Tabitha E Walker Insurance Agency specialist is the best way to decide which Fredericksburg business insurance policy is right for you so your business will be prepared in the case of a disaster. Give us a call at (540) 657-5633 to get a free business insurance quote. We are an independent insurance agency here to serve you by finding the best business insurance policy at the best price!
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