English: Forest, Ohio, September 10, 2007 — Small Business Administration representative Bobby Knight (L) speaks to a couple at the Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) that opened today in Hardin County. Hardin and Seneca counties qualified for Federal Assistance due to recent floods. John Ficara/FEMA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Disaster recovery is a hot topic. What would happen if a disaster affected your operations? According to the Insurance Information Institute, up to 40 percent of businesses never reopen after a disaster. While this figure can seem alarming, almost two-thirds (over 60 percent) of U.S. businesses don’t have an emergency disaster plan in place. By creating a business continuity plan that includes document recovery, you can greatly improve your chances of bouncing back after almost any blow.
Elements to Include in Your Business Disaster Recovery Plan
A team leader. Form a disaster recovery committee and appoint a team leader to help create, implement and maintain your company’s disaster preparedness program. With the help of committee members, the leader communicates the disaster plan to all employees so they, too, can help in the preparedness efforts. The leader also regularly reviews the disaster plan to make sure it is up to date with correct information as well as realistic, effective and compliant with any applicable laws and regulations.
Document scanning. Document recovery is one of the greatest hardships after a disaster. The files you lose to water damage can lead to the loss of customers and privileged information about the company, as well as information about company assets. Include the scanning of all vital documents as part of your disaster preparedness plan. If you don’t have the capacity to do this in-house, hire a professional document scanning service. When you have electronic versions of vital documents, recovery is simpler.
Important phone numbers, including a document recovery professional. When making a disaster recovery plan, most businesses include the contact information for local emergency services, outside vendors and service providers, key employees, utility companies, insurance agents and so on. What many forget to include is the number for a document recovery professional. With this single piece of information on hand, you can quickly call a restoration specialist you trust – not one you just found in the phone book.
Document recovery supplies. When there’s only minor water damage, you perform some disaster recovery steps yourself. Supplies to have in stock include mops, dehumidifiers, crates for storage and wax paper for a paper drying solution.
Insurance Considerations
As you prepare your disaster plan, create an electronic list of all the company’s important physical assets for insurance purposes. Along with the list, keep digital photos of the assets listed and, if possible, a picture of their serial numbers. If there’s damage to any of the assets, take a picture before it gets thrown out or cleaned. As you build the list and take photos, regularly email a copy to yourself or save it through a secure online data storage provider. When you have electronic information about and pictures of your company’s assets, you can easily send the files to an insurance adjuster from any computer or mobile device with an internet connection.
Taking the time to plan for a disaster is an investment in the future of your company. When the unthinkable happens, will you be able to open your doors for business again?
This guest post is courtesy of Joe Perko, Director of Field Services at Rapid Refile. Rapid Refile is a recognized leader in document recovery and restoration of water damaged documents, vacuum-freeze drying, mold remediation and fire restoration services for businesses and individuals.
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