Do you have an emergency plan for your business?

Let’s get practical and discuss your company's emergency action plan. Are you prepared for a weather related emergency, a fire, a burglary or even an extended power outage? What if a customer falls ill in your store? And let’s not forget natural disasters like hurricanes, snowstorms and tornados.

It’s not fun to talk about but why not take a couple of minutes right now to create an emergency plan that could protect your employees, your establishment and the future of your business.

Here are a few questions to get you started. Your insurance company may have more detailed emergency plan templates for your use.

Is your insurance adequate and up- to- date. Do you have the appropriate numbers to call in several places?

Do employees have all appropriate emergency numbers?

Do you have a phone tree in place for efficient communication between all employees?

Is your data backed up to a third party server or the cloud?

In the event of predictable emergencies like hurricanes or blizzards which could result in water leakage and in which you have some warning time, do you have a protocol for getting merchandise off the floor or in some way protected from the elements should there be time?

Are there any critical tasks to be handled for example, hurricane shutters deployed?

How will you contact customers in the event of a prolonged closing? What if there’s a customer waiting on a timely delivery (i.e. a wedding cake?)

Do you have a safe place for all important paperwork, including insurance papers?

Once you complete your emergency plan, review it with your employees on a regular basis to make sure everyone is prepared. Be sure employees know their safety is the first priority and what they should do in the event of a specific type of emergency.

A little preparation today could save you a lot of heartache.