We never know when we may be hit with an emergency. We need to be ready when they happen. Planning is an essential part in reducing the negative consequences associated with emergencies.
The first item for emergency planning should always be having extra cash. You may need to pick up provisions or find a temporary place to stay, like a hotel. This can get expensive fast and without a fair amount of funding, you could find yourself stuck.
The cash can also help if your business is adversely affected by the emergency situation. If you are unable to generate cash from the business during down time, you are going to need some cash flow to get you by.
Unfortunately, many people and business owners, don’t factor in emergencies until it’s too late. If you wait until the emergency actually happens, you won’t be ready. You’ll be left scrambling, and it could place you in a state of panic.
You should also set up some procedures on how to handle emergencies. This is especially helpful in your business when there are several people affected by the situation. You should assign tasks to all the people affected and set up some kind of communication network, such as a phone list.
If the emergency is serious enough for your state or municipality to declare a state of emergency, you may be entitled to funding. Even so, make sure you know the procedures and prerequisites for that funding before the event occurs. Without this knowledge you may do the wrong things or not do things you should, to be eligible for the funds. Contact your government entities to ask about those procedures.
Having insurance that can help should be part of your plan as well. If you suffer any kind of damages due to the emergency, and you don’t have insurance, you could be stuck having to rebuild from scratch. Talk to several insurance agents to get competitive pricing. Just make sure whatever plan you choose that it covers everything you will need.
You won’t be able to account for every type of emergency that could occur. Try to focus on ones that would have a high probability of happening in your area. This doesn’t guarantee others won’t happen. However, covering as many as you can, will help to reduce the likelihood of the adverse effects associated with those emergencies. It should be enough to help you sleep better at night.
