Last Saturday June 1st marked the kickoff of the 2019 hurricane season, which runs through November 30th.  Hurricane season is always a perilous time for residents and businesses in the Atlantic and Gulf regions, but this year there is some good news.

Forecasters are predicting a “slightly below-average” hurricane season.  Even so, they still anticipate 9 to 15 named storms, including 4 to 8 hurricanes, according to CNN.

No matter what the experts’ prediction, it always pays to be prepared.  As a business owner, now is the time to take stock of your disaster preparations and make proactive improvements.

Can your business weather the storm?  Consider the questions below:

Good prevention = good planning.

Have you done everything you can to avoid or minimize losses and business disruptions?  Do you have a documented business continuity or disaster recovery plan and multiple methods of communicating with key employees, customers and suppliers?

Maintain adequate business insurance.

Do you have adequate business property and liability insurance that will pay out in the event of damage or loss?  Do you have an up-to-date inventory of your business assets and equipment in the event you need to file a claim?

Make fall back arrangements in advance.

If you can’t access or operate from your primary business location, do you have arrangements to operate from another location temporarily?  Does that temporary location have all the tools and communications access your staff will require?

Offsite data backups are key.

Do you back up your data, including all business, accounting, and customer records, regularly and maintain a copy of that data in a secure offsite location?  Have you recently tested the backups to ensure they work as expected and you can recover data?

Build up a buffer.

Do you have sufficient inventory and working capital to survive short-term disruptions in cash flow, accounts receivable, or supplier shipments?

Do your contracts include a clause that shields you from liability for damages if you are unable to perform your contractual obligations as a result of events or forces beyond your control?

If you answered “No” to one or more of these questions, then you may have some work to do to minimize the impact of an unexpected business disruption.

Not sure where to start?  eSilo’s disaster recovery and data backup experts are here to help. Contact Us to arrange a complimentary planning session to get your business on the right track.