{"id":1128,"date":"2015-08-06T08:56:34","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T12:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.florist20.com\/blog\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2015-08-11T13:16:21","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T17:16:21","slug":"is-your-shop-ready-for-a-natural-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.florist20.com\/blog\/business-tips\/is-your-shop-ready-for-a-natural-disaster","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Shop Ready for a Natural Disaster?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy August, everyone!<\/p>\n

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Nature Disasters Photography Collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here in Florida, the month is practically synonymous with thunderstorms. Although traditionally our rainiest month of the year, August 2015 seems to truly be one for the record books. Tampa, for instance, typically gets 5-9 inches each August. As of today (August 6), the city’s already had 7.8. In the past two weeks, it’s been more than 20!!!<\/p>\n

For a low-lying city on a bay, that type of rainfall means a whole lot of flooding.\u00a0I visited my boyfriend there last weekend. His immediate neighborhood only had patches of water (about 1-inch deep), but all the major arteries around him were closed, keeping us from about 90% of restaurants, grocery stores, etc.<\/p>\n

For us, it was just an inconvenience. But as I’ve watched the news all week, it’s become clear that, for many residents, the near constant rain has\u00a0been a very costly burden. (And full of dangers — one t.v. reporter encountered a water moccasin while wading through a flooded mobile home park. YIKES!) I\u00a0couldn’t help but think of the small business owners unable to get to work or whose customers cannot get to them. I’ve wondered about the florists and how they’ve managed to make deliveries.<\/p>\n

Flooding is Florida’s reality, but natural disasters came in all shapes and sizes –wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, sinkholes, wind (remember the 2012 derecho that left DC dark for almost a week?<\/a>). There’s no preventing catastrophes, but you can prepare for them.<\/p>\n

If you don’t have a plan in place, it’s worth taking a few minutes to read on for some advice from Julie Bawden Davis, a contributing writer for American Express’ Open Forum:<\/p>\n

Record-setting summer rains in drought-stricken California this past week and the resulting flash floods and damage, including a failed bridge, had a lot of people scrambling. The two-day July rainstorm\u00a0is an example of the\u00a0sudden curveballs small-business owners commonly have to deal with.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“Just when you think things are cool, wham! A sucker punch,” says Peter Boni, managing principal of\u00a0Kedgeway, Inc.<\/a>\u00a0and author of\u00a0All Hands On Deck: Navigating Your Team Through Crises, Getting Your Organization Unstuck, and Emerging Victorious. “It happens to outfits big and small. Sometimes it’s self-induced. The culprit could be lack of foresight and planning, or just bad management. Other times, external forces beyond anyone’s control can whack you.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Catastrophic Events<\/em><\/h2>\n

\u201cNatural disasters happen all the time all over the United States, from the floods in California and Texas, to the tornadoes in the Midwest, or hurricanes,\u201d adds\u00a0Bill McBean<\/a>, author of\u00a0The Facts Of Business Life: What Every Successful Business Owner Knows That You Don\u2019t.\u00a0\u201cSuccessful business owners understand one important reality from those owners who are just hanging on or have had to close their businesses. They understand that what can be controlled must be. And what can\u2019t be controlled has to be contained.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Natural disasters can\u2019t be controlled, but adequate insurance coverage can go a long way to helping lessen the blow of the unexpected, McBean notes. \u201c[You should]\u00a0realize the importance of asset protection, that profits or sales would not be possible if the assets of the business aren\u2019t protected. In reality, asset protection is more important than sales and profits, because assets create the tools and the inventory from which profits and sales are generated. Assets represent cash or credit already spent, and not protecting them is equivalent to leaving thousands of dollars on a park bench and hoping no one will take it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Always break down your assets into the controllable and uncontrollable ones,\u201d McBean adds. \u201cThen make intelligent decisions regarding all your assets in terms of how they can be protected after a disaster, so your business can survive to fight for market share when things calm down.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Whatever you do when presented with a challenge, don’t go it alone, Boni suggests. “The realization that you can’t handle things all by yourself is tough for some small-business people to recognize, but it’s imperative that you create a crisis team to help pull you through. Reach out to your staff, advisors and vendors and ask for assistance.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Other ways to prepare for disaster\u00a0are to:<\/em><\/p>\n