The Cost of a Power Loss to Your Small Business
Did you know a downed power line can cost a small business $3,000 a day? That is right $3,000 a day. When a natural disaster or other atmospheric phenomenon such as a hurricane, flood, or snow storm strikes in your area it is important to get your business up and running as quickly as possible. An automobile accident or lightening strike can also cause power to go out. We all know that time is money and if you are wasting time then you are wasting money.
According to the website http://www.ready.gov/business-impact-analysis when a business is closed due to loss of power some of the areas most impacted can include:
- Lost sales and income
- Delayed sales or income
- Increased expenses (e.g., overtime labor, outsourcing, expediting costs, etc.)
- Regulatory fines
- Contractual penalties or loss of contractual bonuses
- Customer dissatisfaction or defection
- Delay of new business plans
The key is to prepare, preparation leads to prevention. When you are prepared you can allow your business to be up and running in no time at all. There are hundreds of ways to ensure you are ready for the upcoming weather at hand. Always check forecasts from valid sources to ensure you can be ready. In addition, the FEMA website offers a “Business Impact Analysis Worksheet” to help you identify operational and financial impacts to your business. Follow this link for the worksheet:
http://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1388776348838-b548b013b1cfc61fa92fc4332b615e05/Business_ImpactAnalysis_Worksheet_2014.pdf
After identifying the impacts you will then need to address the risks. Risk management approaches include Avoidance, Reduction, Retention, Transfer-Non-Insurance and Transfer to Insurance. Insurance products are available to minimize the loss to your business due to a power outage. Similar exposures to interruption in water supply and telephone services may have good insurance products available for your business as well.
At Ion Insurance we are happy to assist you in identifying exposures to your business property, income stream as well as liability risks too. We will work with you to place coverage with an insurer offering the right mix of coverage and pricing that you request. To begin the process of obtaining a business insurance quote just follow this link: /coverage/business-insurance/ or call us at: 203.439.2815.
