According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), up to 60 percent of small businesses never reopen after a disaster. Among those forced to close for five days or more, 90 percent fail within one year.
Disasters can come in all shapes and sizes. If your business is located in a part of the country that sees tornadoes, frequent flooding, brushfires, or hurricanes, you can’t afford to forego disaster recovery planning.
Likewise, every business is vulnerable to manmade disasters like identity theft and hacking. While small businesses might think they’re safe from cyber-attacks and security threats says Nadim Ahmed of Venture X Dallas North Coworking space.
In fact, cyber thieves often prefer small businesses because they tend to lack the sophisticated encryption and other security safeguards used by big names and multinational corporations. In 2012 alone, cyber-attacks on small businesses jumped by 300 percent.
No matter the size, businesses that fail to prepare for the worst risk of losing money or shutting down. This is why disaster recovery planning is critical.
If your business has a disaster recovery plan, you should consider making a detailed strategy for relocating the business so you can be up and running as quickly as possible following a disaster. This is where co-working can help.
Why You Need an Alternative Work Space
In 2019, Goldman Sachs made headlines after it set up an entire alternative trading floor in a co-working space in London. As a backup location, the second trading floor was designed to mimic the company’s operations as closely as possible, enabling the entire operation to quickly pick up and go in the event of a disaster.
The idea was to sidestep interruptions in everyday business. While smaller companies likely don’t have the resources to completely copy their workspace, business of all sizes can build on the concept pioneered by Goldman Sachs.
For example, having a flexible workspace ready and waiting can give your workers a place to report to when disaster strikes.
Whether it’s a hurricane or a water main break, knowing you can have your team assemble in an alternative space gives you the peace of mind of knowing you can continue working even if your main office is suddenly unavailable.
What Is a Disaster Recovery Plan?
Every business should have a disaster recovery plan. This is a detailed plan that spells out how every critical department in the business will continue operating in the event of some type of disaster. For example, the plan should discuss departments like IT and human resources, as well as sales and accounting. The plan should also address physical space and digital storage.
There are numerous benefits that come with having a disaster recovery plan. In addition to keeping the business up and running, a good disaster recovery plan can safeguard workers’ safety, keep jobs secure, raise the confidence of key stakeholders, maintain corporate compliance, reduce financial hazards, and safeguard the company’s reputation.
What Kind of Disasters Should a Business Consider?
While some types of disasters are easier to predict than others, the very nature of disasters is that they tend to come on without a great deal of warning.
For example, if your business is located in the heart of hurricane territory in Florida, you can assume your area will see its share of hurricanes. However, you can’t predict with any real certainty which hurricane season will produce a Category 5 storm.
This is why businesses should prepare for anything and everything. Possible disasters include:
- Flooding
- Fires
- Hurricanes
- Earthquakes
- Landslides
- Insect or rodent infestation
- Extreme heat or cold
- Vandalism
- Theft
- Employee sabotage
- Worker strikes
- Hacking
- Pandemics and other biohazards
- Toxic and chemical accidents
- Gas leaks
- Disruption in utility service
- Building structural problems
- Computer malfunctions
Various disasters can affect businesses in different ways, but several types of disasters can devastate a company by compromising its physical location. Businesses that set up a co-working space as an alternative location can focus on planning how they will continue operations rather than spending their time frantically searching for a second location when disaster strikes.
Factors to Consider When Preparing Your Disaster Recovery Plan
When preparing your disaster recovery plan, some items to consider include the following.
- Identify key personnel – Which employees are critical to keeping the business operational? Ideally, these workers should be the first to move to the co-working space.
- Identify critical departments – Every department is important for a business, but some departments play a larger role than others when it comes to staying operational and generating revenue. These departments should have priority when it comes to relocating to your company’s co-working space.
- Do a test run – You don’t have to wait for a disaster to happen to see if your disaster recovery plan works. Just as you might perform a fire drill to test your building’s sprinkler system, you can test the effectiveness of your disaster recovery plan by running through emergency scenarios.
Sources:
- https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1441212988001-1aa7fa978c5f999ed088dcaa815cb8cd/3a_BusinessInfographic-1.pdf
- https://www.inc.com/magazine/201312/john-brandon/hackers-target-small-business.html
- https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/goldman-sachs-sets-up-wework-office-as-emergency-trading-floor-2019-10-1028586138
- https://venturex.com/news/how-to-choose-the-best-coworking-space-for-your-startup-in-dallas/
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