It was one of those typical gloomy, windy days that is seen so many times in southwestern Missouri. Daytime heat builds up and storms break out in the afternoon. It’s a part of life in the South.
We have all heard the sirens go off before. Often it is a Doppler radar signature that “looks like” a tornado. The TV weather interrupts our programs and just adds to the aggravation. Often times it just gets turned off.
But not long after 5 PM on May 22 in Joplin, Missouri, and in many other places this year like Tuscaloosa, Alabama and as far north as Minnesota, those warnings were the last thing many people heard.
The news reports showed us a landscape which looked like an atomic bomb went off. It sent me imagining what a hornets’ nest of 2x4s, shingles, asphalt, cars, trees and houses would be like at nearly 200 mph. It’s hard to believe that anyone could survive it, and it scares everyone with good sense. It causes me to really think about what is important and what isn’t. Life is precious, and friends and family are irreplaceable. But life and business goes on. Or does it?
What would we do after surviving such a disaster? Our homes are one thing, and the loss of our homes is beyond comprehension for most of us. We have a mechanism in our brains that prevents pain, so it is hard for us to think about it, much less plan for it.
But what if it was your business that got annihilated? What is your Plan B?
I have started asking these questions at Nashville Wraps. While we do live and work in a tornado-prone region, no one anywhere these days is safe. So the topic of Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity is very hot on our agenda and it should be on yours too.
Here a just a few topics that we will be looking at. There are many more.
Will your website survive your business?
If you run your website at your business or home, and the neighbor’s pickup truck lands in your office, that site isn’t going to do you much good. While your community can understand why they get 401 errors when going to your website, your customers in the next state may not be so patient.
By whom (and where) will your phone be answered?
Telephone service can be easily forwarded to alternate offices or even your home, but be sure this other location is far enough away that it will not be in danger too if disaster should strike. Answering services are available, as well as offsite-trained sales and service alternatives, but they are not for everyone.
Do you have an off-site computer backup?
You’ve heard the horror stories. Computers are electro-mechanical devices and will fail. A tornado, fire or flood will certainly ensure they fail all too quickly – but remember, even under normal conditions, they eventually will fail. So make remote backup software available online a priority.
Can you quickly contact your customers and suppliers?
Neighbors help neighbors here in the US, so contact your suppliers and your customers. Let them know what is going on. It’s a good way to build trust and save your future business.
Can you establish your business at a different location?
Keep a watchful eye for opportunities where you may have to move to one day. Contact the real estate agent(s) and let them know that in case of emergency you are interested. Be first on the list. You may be able to partner with other non-competitive businesses that have extra space or extra capacity. Think outside the box, as they say.
Are you adequately insured?
Business interruption insurance is cheap, because while it is horrendous, business interruption is not all that common. But don’t play those odds! For a few bucks a month, you can make sure you would have the cash to replace a good portion of your revenues while you put things back together.
There are many other aspects of the topic of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, and as we ask these questions of ourselves we will pass what we discover on to you.
Robby Meadows
Nashville Wraps
Hurricane Sandy Hits Nashville Wraps Customers
Seeking a Higher Ground – The 2010 Nashville Flood
I love what Dawn said about being a refuge for those who wanted to talk. This is what life and business sometimes turns into: a place for people to talk and regenerate. I have a little hobby business outside of my job here at Nashvile Wraps and I spend as much time educating folks about plants as I do selling plants. Honestly, it’s the part I like best. Let’s pray that the bad weather is over, at least for this year!
Love your posts nashville wraps. very good info.
Thank you for taking the time to put together that information on preparing our business for a disaster situation. It certainly made me take MORE notice of this since those tornadoes tore through the middle of OUR state last week … and we NEVER get tornadoes … those are for YOUR part of the country! As a matter of fact, however, hurricanes are always a concern for us, and your checklist has been printed off and I am going to make sure we are prepared.
Thank you again!
Lydia Hart, Owner
Westwinds Bookshop
This comment was sent via email. It reinforces how we all need to prepare for any unexpected situation. RM
Thank you for posting this information. We have to deal with the risk of hurricanes here in Florida and there is so much to prepare for that people just take for granted and procrastinate. I hope you don’t mind, but I will be posting a link to this web page on our Facebook Doll Genie pages so that everyone can see it. Its so im[portant to prepare for the worst… and pray for the best! May God Bless all of the people that survived the recent natural disasters. We pray for a speedy recovery in health, personal and business aspects of their lives. Susan Maczik – The Doll Genie
I am in Huntsville AL and on April 27th our area was hit with an F5 tornado. You did not hear much about our area because of the Tuscaloosa tornado that hit that same day. What people do not realize is that our area (entire city) was without electricity for 6 days due to the large power towers being damaged. Over 200 towers had to be repaired. The only phone service was by cell and that was not great. I too was withing 1-2 miles of destruction. We had minor damage to our home. We spent probably 6 hours that day taking shelter due to storms that took place the entire day. 10 lives were lost in our area alone. So my business was closed for 6 days and I was not reimbursed for loss of business because damage was not done on the property. ( I have completely reviewed my policy to the penny and have made several changes) Plan B came sitting in the dark at my store trying to figure out what to do next. I think the most important thing to remember in these situations is you customers and the community. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t open because the entire community was in survival mode. No electricity, no food, very little communication. Massive destruction and the need to help those who lost everything is what mattered. I let my customers tell me when they were ready to shop and they did. They called on my cell and I opened in the dark to let them shop. It was that very day the electricity came back on and the opportunity to be a refuge to those who needed to talk began. We all have a story and most want to share. The above information is so important and we need to have a back up at all times because it does change in a matter of seconds.
Robby,
Thanks for the very descriptive story. Yes, I too saw all the pictures on television and my heart hurt for all the people in the affected states in America. We, none of us, are safe from harm.
I hope your story helped some people to realize that. What is it in us that makes us think we are an exception and tragedy cannot happen to us?
Thank you.
Ramona
Good article. Thanks for sharing. I’m a new customer and appreciate your business and the extra information you provide on your web site. The materials I ordered were perfect and the packages arrived well ahead of schedule. Thanks again for all the info on recycling, and setting up emergency plans. I think many of us don’t plan ahead as we should. We find out, through living, that anything can happen at anytime, and we are not immune. Hopefully, we don’t find out too late.
What a timely post for me. I have been considering all these things. I work from my home. We were within just a few miles of one of the many tornadoes that ravaged Alabama on April 27th. There are many days I wonder what would have happened if my house, machines and inventory were gone. We were without power for 8 days and that in itself was hard enough. I did manage to get some generator power long enough to post a message on our website so that customers would know orders were delayed. I also took a car load of items that we had orders for and went to my parents who had power (4 hours away). I filled as many orders as possible while there. It has taken years to build my business and it could have all be gone in a few seconds. Thank you for the though provoking post. I am still considering what needs to be done. I am thankful beyond measure for the safety of my family!!
What timely subject matter! We here in Central and Western MA never thought it could happen to us! We don’t even HAVE sirens, and even though there was a tornado watch all day, no one really paid much attention to it. Yet so many people around here have lost homes and businesses after our 6/1 tornados. I’m lucky as both my home and my business are within 1-2 miles of total destruction. You can be sure I’ll take tornado watches very seriously for the rest of my life and will have a plan B