How to recover when disaster strikes your business

culled from:bdc.ca

• Reach out to one or more key employees to help you deal with priority items, including communicating with staff and handling customer service issues. Choose people with a calm demeanor who can help you and others cope with a stressful situation.
• Contact your employees and provide as much information as possible about where your company stands. If you can’t get into your premises, you’ll need to find a location where you can meet.
• Provide a safe work environment. Hire experts to inspect your premises for hazards.
• Make your employees’ lives easier by providing flexible work schedules and ample time to take care of personal challenges.
• If your business has been directly hit, take photos and keep records of damaged items. If you have an inventory of assets, get it for reference.
• Call your insurer as soon as possible to begin the process of claiming for damages. Delays in filing your claim could result in late insurance payouts and hurt your cash flow.
• Find out if you are eligible for disaster relief from municipal, provincial or federal governments. Look for local media coverage or notices about possible financial relief.
• Work with your bank to ease the load. For example, your banker may offer you flexible loan repayment terms during your recovery. That’s what BDC did for clients in both southern Alberta and the Lac Mégantic region.
• Contact suppliers and ask them to extend their terms, if necessary, to maintain cash flow in your business.
• Once you’ve got your business under control, do what you can to help out in your own community. Encourage your employees to volunteer.

By taking these steps, you can at least ensure your company is headed for recovery.
Your job will be a lot easier if you plan ahead for a disaster. If you don’t already have a business continuity plan, prepare one now.
One basic preparation you should make is to keep copies of important documents such as insurance policies and legal papers somewhere other than your place of business.
It’s also important to keep up-to-date contact information for employees, insurance representatives, maintenance firms and anyone else you may need to reach when disaster strikes.