No amount of planning can help you avoid disaster. But it can help you prepare for the fallout and guarantee the survival of your business.
Remember that no matter how good things seem today, there is always the potential for calamity to strike. Fires, pandemics and cyberattacks all have the potential to wreak havoc. And anyone who has lived in Florida for more than a year understands that weather, in particular, can create turmoil completely out of your control.
So, today is the day you start planning for how you will safeguard your people, property and key business assets:
Understand Your Threats
Living and doing business in Florida, your contingency plans should begin with hurricanes. We know the vast potential for region-wide damage from a Category 5 storm. To be clear, your planning needs to happen well before you find yourself in the “cone of uncertainty.” Before hurricane season approaches, take stock of your preparations and reinforce where needed. Install impact resistant windows; plan evacuation routes; stockpile supplies, including water, batteries, canned goods and other essentials; and backup important computer files to store off-site or on the cloud for easy access.
Build Contingency Plans
Even the best planning may not save your building if it takes a direct hit during a major storm. If that happens, you still need to be able to communicate with customers and suppliers. Can your employees work from home? What if their own disaster-related obligations — caring for children, for example — clash with their work responsibilities?
And while Floridians tend to focus on hurricanes, there are other threats lurking in the distance. These include violence and civil unrest; sinkholes and lightning strikes; train derailments and toxic chemical spills. And don’t forget pandemics. Your disaster planning needs to be flexible enough that it can account for any number of business interruptions.
The Florida SBDC can assist with your planning. Visit floridasbdc.org/services/consulting/preparedness
Protect Your People, then Property
Your employees are your most important consideration. Buildings and equipment can be replaced. Have a plan for evacuating employees to safer ground if disaster strikes while everyone is at work. Consider assembling a list of directions to local shelters, hospitals and emergency services. Then post emergency phone numbers and contacts in a common place easily accessible by all employees. Remember that your computers may not work during a disaster, so keep printed copies on hand.
Contents for your pre-disaster list:
- Directions to shelters, hospitals and other emergency services
- Emergency phone numbers
- Update emergency contacts and essential medical information
Returning to Normal
Once the storm (or other threat) passes, you will want to get back to business as quickly as possible. Depending on how hard you were hit, this may not be easy. Your return to normal may be seriously delayed if you have to wait weeks for insurances claims to be processed.
While you are recovering, you’ll still have repairs to make and employees to pay. Fortunately, assistance is available for those who know where to look.
As soon as disaster hits the state, members of the Florida SBDC Network will serve as your primary contacts for processing and submitting paperwork needed for short-term, zero-interest Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loans.
A bridge loan can be a lifesaver for businesses that are physically or economically damaged during a disaster. With one of these loans, you can gain quick access to working capital while awaiting longer-term solutions, including profits, federal disaster assistance and/or insurance proceeds to become available.
The bridge loan program is activated by Florida’s governor following a disaster and is funded by the state. Still, keep in mind that these are loans that will need to be repaid at some point.
On-site Recovery Assistance
If you are unfortunate enough to be located in a hard-hit community, it may be easier for you to get help. That’s because the Florida SBDC Network deploys its Disaster Mobile Assistance Centers into the most heavily-damaged areas to offer on-site assistance. Mobile centers are staffed by highly experienced consultants, who can answer questions, create short-term recovery plans and help businesses apply for bridge loans and other state and federal funding.
Be Ready to Move
Being prepared for disaster will help you spring into action when needed. Don’t wait for hurricane force winds to hit before you start gathering up important documents or supplies. Put together your “go bag” well before an emergency is declared, while you are still clear-headed. Even better, after you’ve gathered what you need, put it in a locked water-and-fireproof box and store it off site.
Potential ‘go bag’ contents:
- Emergency contact lists of employees, suppliers, vendors, key customers and repair services
- Bank records
- Emergency cash
- Insurance policies and agent contacts
- Disaster recovery plans
- A list of bills that regularly need to be paid
- Backups of important computer files
Insured Protection
There is no surefire way to protect your company from disaster. So you want to consider insurance for a wide range of contingencies. An insurance agent can help you explore your options from among the following types of insurance. Be sure to compare terms and prices to decide what’s right for you.
For Your Property
General Liability: Protects against financial loss resulting from bodily injury, property damage, medical expenses, libel, slander, lawsuits and settlement bonds or judgments.
Product Liability: Protects against financial loss resulting from a defective product that causes injury or bodily harm.
Professional Liability: Protects against financial loss resulting from malpractice, errors and negligence.
Commercial Property: Protects against loss and damage of company property due to fire, smoke, wind and hailstorms, civil disobedience, vandalism and other such events.
Home-Based Business Insurance: A rider added to your homeowners insurance that offers protection for business equipment and liability coverage for third-party injuries.
Business Owners Policy: Combines all of the typical coverage options in a single package at a reduced price; generally available only to businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
General Liability Flood: Property insurance does not cover damage from floodwaters, whether from rivers, lakes or oceans. However, business owners can insure buildings and contents for up to $500,000 each through the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Windstorm: Protects businesses from damages caused by windstorms, including property damage, business interruption and liability claims.
Business Interruption: Pays for ongoing expenses such as rent, utilities and, in some cases, payroll when a business must close due to an insured property loss — i.e., in the aftermath of a hurricane.
FOR YOUR PEOPLE
Directors and Officers Liability: Protects the company and individual executives should employees, shareholders, government agencies and/or others sue directors and officers over financial losses due to alleged company mismanagement.
Key Employee: Protects a business following the death of an individual considered vital to the firm’s success. Similar to a life insurance policy, except the death benefit is paid to the company rather than to the individual’s family.
Workers’ Compensation: Florida law requires employers with four or more full- or part-time employees to have workers’ compensation coverage for their employees. Sole proprietors and partners are not considered employees. Corporate officers are employees, unless exempt.
FOR YOUR IDEAS
Intangible Assets: Your company’s reputation, name recognition, know-how and/or creative ideas have no physical existence, but they have commercial value and should be protected by one of the following:
Patents: A patent is a property right granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to an inventor to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention without permission for a specified period of time. Visit www.uspto.gov for information and filing instructions.
Trademarks: Words, symbols, names, internet domain names, packaging and labeling that distinguish one company’s products from another may be registered as trademarks through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or, for more limited state protection, through the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.
Copyrights: An author’s exclusive right to use his or her original writing, musical composition, artistic designs, photographs and other works of expression is automatic when a work is created and lasts 70 years after death. Official registration is optional in most cases. For protection, simply add the word “copyright” or © symbol, followed by the year of first publication and the name of the copyright owner(s) at the top of the page.
CYBERSECURITY
It is difficult to run any business without relying heavily on computers and technology. It has become routine for employees to spend large amounts of time working remotely. On one hand, that may be great for helping employees do their jobs more efficiently. But on the other hand, it increases your vulnerability to cyberattack.
Cyber criminals, armed with powerful AI tools, are a constant threat. They are looking to exploit business weaknesses with phishing, ransom attacks and cyber extortion. A single successful attack can cost your business thousands of dollars at a minimum.
Consider these four measures to boost your company’s cybersecurity defenses:
Be proactive
Your computers should be loaded with antivirus software/anti-spyware that is updated frequently. Use firewall security for your internet connection, while also securing, encrypting and hiding your Wi-Fi networks.
Train your employees
Your employees may not be aware of the true danger of cyber security attacks. Develop written policies for how to handle and protect sensitive data, using mobile devices and reporting lost or stolen equipment. Hold employees accountable if they violate these policies.
Put limits on employee
access to data and authority
to install software
Employees should have their own unique user accounts, with administration privileges limited to trusted IT staff and key personnel. Use multifactor authentication (password + additional information) to gain entry. People may complain, but change passwords often.
Automatically back up
your critical data
Include all your computer files, documents, spreadsheets, databases and financial files. Store copies off-site or on the cloud.