So you’ve trained with your guns and stored freeze dried foods and water in preparation for any coming apocalypse. But what about your business? Are you ready to keep operating in the face of disaster?
Most disasters aren’t world ending. Unlike in the movie Fight Club, after most hurricanes or tornadoes, your debt won’t be wiped out. You’ll still have to show up for work on Monday and make ends meet, only now in the face of infrastructure problems and displacement.
For a glimpse of this reality, look no further than the hotel and B&B owners along Cape Hatteras today. The Cape is out of power for the fifth day in a row, and hotel owners who didn’t think ahead by purchasing backup generators for their properties are refunding guests their money. CNN reports on motel owner Janet Dawson:
An emotional Dawson was particularly worried after utility officials late Sunday said repairs to power cables damaged last week could take between one to two weeks.
“People make money in summer to live through the winter,” said Dawson, who operates the Cape Hatteras Motel. She’s had to refund all the motel’s reservations, and has already lost tens of thousands of dollars.“Two weeks would put us out of business, two weeks is beyond the pale … I think we could limp along, but we would run out of money and would have to close some time in winter.”
At the peak of their earnings season, these Americans are returning their customers’ money because of a system failure completely out of their control.
Your life should be in your control. That’s the essence of preparedness. You need to financially and physically (i.e. generator, supplies, off site backup, etc.) prepare your business for a disaster. Don’t wait. Start now.
