You Can’t Usually Predict a Disaster but You Can Be Prepared
(3 votes)
Loading ...
I was visiting my son in Boston on the night an electrical transformer exploded in the Back Bay area, knocking out power. It was strange to look down Boylston Street and not see any lights! A recent article
in the Boston Business Journal described the impact this freak occurrence had on local businesses, and it reminded of the way many of our Webster Bank clients were affected by the Halloween Blizzard of 2011. Our Cash Management services team put together this list so that our business clients can be prepared for the next disaster.
How to Prepare Your Business for the Next Disaster
- Provide your bank with key emergency contact names, cell phone numbers and email addresses.
- Use a “safe” alternative computer to conduct business.
- Be prepared to use paper checks (this means prepare and document) for payroll and bill payment if you can’t access a safe computer to perform online transactions.
- In the event your office is not accessible, identify safe alternative places to perform online transactions. Perhaps your local bank branch?
- If you are concerned about your ability to safely access your office, consider setting up and using the” future date” function for bill payments you need to make on a specific date.
- Consider making a shared space agreement with trusted businesses and vendors as a back-up for your business.
- Keep copies of paper and electronic recordings, including legal, financial and key customer data, in an off-site location.
- Use your business phone’s call forwarding feature to send calls to your mobile or home phone number.
July is here, signaling the start of the annual hurricane season. The point of these suggestions is you need to be prepared and think about what would happen if you could not access your business site, or if you business was without power, heat or water. Seek out suggestions from your business partners, clients and staff on how you would stay in business, and protect and safeguard your business in the face of a natural or man-made disaster.
Do you have any other suggestions you can add?
Equal Housing Lender
3 Responses to “You Can’t Usually Predict a Disaster but You Can Be Prepared”
Great point Larry! Most companies have not revised their treasury disaster recovery plans in a while. These points should be incorporated in all plans given the ongoing concern of cyber crimes/fraud. Many companies wait to incorporate these points when it is too late because it is not high on their to do list. But it should always be high on the list given the ever changing cyber environment. Their are processes and products to give companies the needed prevention tools.
Dean, Thanks for your comments. I am thinking about those businesses without power in the heat wave, or the pending issue with the FBI ending their management of infected DNS servers that could potentialy disrupt internet access for some users. Every business has to think about “it can happen to me” and what would I do if the worst case happened.
on December 20th, 2012 at 9:44 am #
[...] We have been struck with a few natural disasters over the past couple of years. You need to make sure that you have contingencies in place in the event of storms, power outages, supply disruptions, etc. Our cash management team put together a list of things to keep in mind for protecting your business during the next major weather incident or other business altering event, here. [...]