Monday, July 24, 2006
Wind Blown
Last week severe storms hit St. Louis, MO knocking out power for more than 500,000 people including thousands of small businesses. My company, SBTV.com, (www.sbtv.com) was one of many that had to shut down operations for several days. And while this was disruptive for us, it did not have the impact it had on other companies who depend on daily business transactions. For example, one of my good friends owns a hair salon. No power meant no business which meant a significant loss of revenue. The same is true for restauranteurs whose doors were closed for four to five days. Of course, the situation in St. Louis is nothing compared to what business owners in the Gulf States have experienced. But think about what you would do if your business had to shut down for a few days. Would you be prepared to deal with it? I simply ask you to take a moment and think about it.
Comments:
Links to this post:
<< Home
This is the kind of situation all business owners should be prepared for. Several months ago, in my town of Pelham, a rock embankment collapsed and crashed into several businesses including a couple of restaurants, a cell phone store, and a brand new bank branch. Many of these business owners are still having trouble with their insurance companies; at least one will most surely never open its doors again. No one can predict when a natural disaster will strike, but it seems to me that there are a couple of things small busienss owners can do to prepare for the worst. First and foremost, make sure you are adequately covered by insurance. Secondly, store all of your customer data off-premises, preferably on the web, but at least on another computer, or backed up on a jump drive. If your business must remain closed for several days, weeks or months, you will at least have a way to contact your customers.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
<< Home
