Take these steps to prepare your small business for an emergency situation.
Unfortunately, a natural disaster or another emergency event can strike with minimal warning. This is why your business needs to have an emergency plan that they can put into place on very short notice. Not sure how to create an emergency plan for your small business? Here are some of the steps that you should try to get started.
Create an Emergency Response Plan
An emergency response plan details the steps that your employees will take if your business is hit with a natural disaster. This plan should include how your employees and customers will evacuate the premises and communicate during the actual disaster event. Additionally, your plan should detail where everyone will meet following the evacuation, and how to check in and make sure that everyone has exited the building safely. Once you have an emergency response plan in place, your employees should practice it several times to ensure that they know what to do in the event of a real emergency.
Develop a Crisis Communication Plan
Your crisis communication plan is how your business will stay in contact with its employees and customers during and immediately after the emergency situation. To start, appoint an official spokesperson for the different audiences that your company appeals to. For instance, you should have one spokesperson for employees, another for customers, another for suppliers, and so on. Through your appointed spokespeople, your business will disseminate important news regarding plans for reopening, resumption of business operations, and so on.
Make a Business Continuity Plan
Finally, your business continuity plan will detail how your business will continue in the face of a natural disaster. For instance, if your business manufactures or distributes products, you may still have orders coming in despite your business being closed. Your continuity plan should detail how to either fulfill these orders or how to salvage business relationships in the event that a contract or deadline cannot be met.
These are some of the steps you should take when creating an emergency preparedness plan for your small business. Want another way to get your business ready for an emergency situation? Make sure you have the right business insurance protections in place. For assistance with your commercial coverage needs, contact the team at VGW Walker Insurance in Texas to get started today.
