BUSINESS DISASTER
PREPARING YOUR
BUSINESS FOR
DISASTER
BY: ROWAN STEWART, ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, WAYPOINT INSURANCE
I
n the wake of so many natural
disasters in our recent history, do
you ever think about whether your
business would be prepared?
Experts forecast that climate
change will contribute to increasingly
severe weather occurrences in the future
and business owners will have no control
over when they will occur or how severe
the impact will be. But natural disasters,
such as floods, hurricanes and wildfires,
are not the only cause of business
disasters. Man-made crises, such as
a computer data loss, accidental fire,
supplier shutdown, or other business
interruptions can seriously threaten a
small business.
No matter the cause of the disaster,
whether natural or man-made, you can
prepare to get your business operations
running again as quickly as possible.
The more prepared your business is, the
more likely it can bounce back following
a catastrophe rather than go out of
business entirely. Even a small business
should develop a disaster recovery
plan by working with their insurance
broker and perhaps even a consultant
specializing in disaster preparation.
If you prefer to get started on your own,
there are several steps you can take to
get the process going. Many of the tasks
in disaster preparedness will rely on the
close collaboration of various employees
or teams within your organization,
so it’s best to get their buy-in on the
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importance of this type of business
planning beforehand.
Your Waypoint insurance specialist will
tell you the first step in recovery is having
the proper insurance in place to handle
the majority of disasters. If you haven’t
already, start a conversation with us
about your company’s susceptibility to
both natural and man-made disasters
and whether you have the right policies
in place to help protect you. Perhaps you
have general liability coverage, but not
insurance to cover floods or earthquakes.
Be aware that even if your business is
not situated in a disaster-prone area,
your key suppliers or manufacturing
facilities may be! Other types of policies
to consider could provide special
coverage for your building, property
improvements, business interruption,
relocation expenses, and other aspects of
your operation.
A large part of your disaster preparedness
plan will centre on protecting your
company’s data; including customer
information, employee files, and
financial records. Many small businesses
have not taken adequate steps to protect
their sensitive information and at the
very least, need to cover the basics. Data
protection steps include the following:
1) CYBER INSURANCE
Cyber insurance is absolutely mandatory
in today’s business climate, with
companies collecting highly confidential
data from customers, employees, and