Create A Natural Disaster Continuity Plan To Mitigate Risk And Protect Your Business

Natural disasters like bush fires, floods, and storms are on the rise in Australia. By 2050, the estimated annual cost of natural disasters across businesses and the government is set to hit $33 billion, the Australian Business Roundtable reveals. Natural disasters can destroy company property, assets, and operations, and therefore have the power to devastate smaller businesses. Fortunately, with a natural disaster continuity plan, you can outline strategies that help you quickly resume operations and minimise downtime once disaster hits. By understanding the unique risks your business faces, investing in insurance, and devising backup strategies, you’ll be able to get back on your feet fast and keep the revenue flowing.

Know Your Risks

What risks does your business face? You’ll need to know exactly what you’re up against in order to devise the most relevant mitigation strategies. So, research your local area to get a good idea of the typical type and frequency of natural disasters that occur there. For example, if your business is situated near the coast, rivers, or bushland, you’re probably at a higher risk of natural disasters like flooding, cyclones, or fires.

It’s also useful to make a habit of looking at the Department of Fire and Emergency Services’ alerts and warnings for bushfires, cyclones, storms, and floods. These warnings give advice on what actions to take depending on the current threat and how severe it is.

Get Insured

Whatever natural disasters you’re facing, insurance should always be a key component in any continuity plan. Insurance protects your business financially, so you’re better positioned to continue operations as usual. Car insurance, in particular, means you won’t be faced with a hefty repair bill if something bad happens to your vehicle. Car repairs are expensive, and, for some models, can cost up to 70% of the car’s total purchase price.

So this is one insurance you can’t afford to skip. Although there’s a few different options you can go with when including car insurance in your continuity plan, comprehensive car insurance is a nice choice. This insurance covers the cost of repairs to your car made necessary by natural disasters, fire, collisions, and theft.

Devise Back-Up Strategies

Your contingency plan should also include back-up strategies that mitigate the resulting impacts of natural disasters, so your business stays up and running. For example, if you’re no longer able to access your premises, you’ll still need a way to access important company information (like customer details, price lists, and employee contact details). So, if you don’t use it already, look into cloud storage systems that let you access documents from anywhere (as long as you’re connected to the internet). Or, if your internet connection goes down, you’ll need to be able to accept manual credit card or cash payments.

In this case, a command center can also be crucial. For example, in earthquake or other disaster cases, providing a centralized location for coordinating emergency responses, managing communication, and maintaining operational control ensures your business can continue functioning like clockwork.

Natural disasters can strike at any time, so it’s important your business is ready to handle whatever’s thrown your way. By building a solid business continuity plan, you can successfully weather disaster, minimise downtime, and come out the other side stronger..