Preventing Your Small Business from Becoming a Statistic

9/17/2020 (Permalink)

How will you keep your small business open after an emergency?

Sunland/Tujunga loves small business. We love patronizing our homegrown stores and restaurants, and as a locally-owned franchise, SERVPRO of Sunland/Tujunga can appreciate that love. We also understand the risk involved with opening the doors of your own business. It doesn’t take much to close those doors again.

According to FEMA 25% of small businesses that shut down operation due to a disaster never open them again. That’s a mind-boggling percentage! 

We may not be able to stop disasters from happening, but we can prepare ourselves so that they’re less disastrous.

Plan

Take time before a destructive event happens to think about what needs to be done if things go wrong. If the pipes burst, if a fire breaks out, or if a storm strikes, what steps need to be taken and who will take them? There are multiple tools available to guide you through these questions.

• The SERVPRO Emergency Ready Program app
• FEMA business emergency resources
• Small Business Association resources

Research

Talk to your insurance agent to learn the details of what is covered and what isn’t. Find out what information you will need to have on hand if you need to file a claim.

This is also the time to find out what companies are available in your area to restore your business after something goes wrong.

When an unexpected event forces your business to close, time is of the essence. FEMA statistics tell us that if a business is closed for more than 5 days, there is a 90% chance that it will fail within a year. It’s important to know who you can trust before you know you even know you need them.

Maintain

Prepare your facilities as well through maintenance. Make a checklist of every element in your building that could compromise service—plumbing, electrical, structural—and routinely review your assets to make sure that they’re fully functioning.

Your time is valuable, but your business is worth the investment. Prepare now for a disaster later.