It would be awesome to have a smooth-sailing enterprise wherein profit is good, workers are happy, and clients are satisfied. The thing is that owning a business is composed of many ups and downs. There are times of good news and thriving, and unfortunately, there are times of bad news and sinking.
As a business owner, know that sweet milestones and successes are to be celebrated, but always be prepared to face and overcome trials that may come along your journey and failures that you might commit and encounter. Optimism is an unmatched and impenetrable attitude that can result in greatness in your business and your life, however, it’s not wrong to be quite realistic and ready for anything!
Apart from customer complaints, service lackings, stock shortages and other more negotiable and more manageable business issues, man-made disasters, accidents and natural calamities are the most unfavorable and most unwanted. Nobody wishes these adversities to ruin businesses, but their occurrences are oftentimes unforeseen, and their aftermath can be most destructive if you are not careful and equipped.
Be informed of what your tools can be to save your company and your employees at the face of devastating emergencies which might happen with or without warning. Read the list below to know these 3 crucial things and discover how life-and-death they are for your business! Keep your senses up, and be geared up to secure them if you still haven’t.
1. PROPER EMPLOYEE TRAINING
Money can be earned again, but lives cannot be replaced. Prioritize and always care for your workers’ lives. For sure, your employees care about their safety much more than you do for themselves. It’s their lives, so that’s a given.
You are fully aware that they cannot just sit back or stand up and do their work everyday without being primed about what to do in case of emergencies within the building and within working hours in the field. They have to be knowledgeable and seasoned. Provide proper employee training upon hiring them. Do that at least once a year as you deem necessary or as the laws demand.
Fire drills, earthquake drills and other simulations like these two are essential. They should not be taken lightly. Your employees must know how to stay calm and to respond to abrupt hazardous events. Specifically those staff members assigned for electrical maintenance and areas with flammable materials and chemicals must be trained efficiently.
Smartly planning and preparing for all predictable and unpredictable dangers will be your impeccable tool for all your employees, of course including yourself, to stay awake, alert and alive amidst them all. To identify and measure the training required, look at the nature of your business, the size of your workplace and the number of people in your manpower. Note that regardless of who does what, the whole staff must be coached and well-grounded about what to do in all kinds of disasters.
Evacuation and communication techniques must be crystal-clear. Strategic disaster management plans are mandatory.
2. Systemic Emergency Exits
It is horrifying to hear news of workers’ death caused by fire which can be prevented (or the number reduced) only if there is a functional emergency exit. This exit passage is not simply a back door or an alternate doorway; it really is a life-saving access.
Have your fire alarms and fire extinguishers operating flawlessly. Fire department hotlines must be easy to reach. See to it that your building is qualified with damage-resistance business laws.
Just as mentioned previously, ensure everyone’s knowledge of the location and usage of emergency exits through a complete training. You and your staff must be in a straight and clear mind to not forget to guide clients and customers to the way out, if any are present in the store or office at the time of emergency.
3. Business Insurance
Regardless of the cause, it is an aching pain to the heart and mind to experience disastrous emergencies. They take away a lot, if not everything, from your business.
Getting back up and recovering from their grave effects are not impossible. Don’t lose hope until you have done all you can to restore your company and its successes. Keep in mind this highly important fact: When you own a business insurance before all these happen, you are safeguarded and helped in loads of ways! It’s not called “insurance” for nothing.
Be informed that there are various types of business insurance intended for specific assistance needed in case of disasters. Property Insurance grants coverage for business losses and damages issuing from lighting and fire, explosion, typhoon, flood, earthquake, water pipe burst and more. Physical Loss Policy is among the biggest business insurance segments because it indemnifies physical loss or damage. It provides money for rebuilding, replacing and repairing properties including the building itself. Business Interruption Insurance protects your business when revenue plunges.
Standard business policies cover losses from hurricane damage such as roofs blown away by harsh winds and winds broken by the same. Damages caused by rainwater, not floodwater, entering the office building is included. Flood insurance is a separate filing. To prevent the expenses for this business insurance, you can take major steps to enhance your property, making it less susceptible to flooding; better, choose an area that’s not prone to flooding.
Catastrophe Insurance shields businesses against the aftermaths of natural calamities and man-made tragedies like terrorist assaults. It is commonly used interchangeably with Hazard Insurance which is actually different; the latter usually provides security against disasters beyond human control, known as acts of God, like tornadoes and volcanic eruptions. Damages resulting from volcanic explosions, seismic waves, ashfall and lava flows are usually dealt with by most business insurance policies. Fire Insurance is a chief portion of a commercial property policy.
Plan and strategize beforehand, so just in case these emergencies spring up, you can recover quickly. Know the right types of business insurance for you and procure it speedily without hesitation!
Be Safe to Save
There are deleterious events and mishaps that may put your company on the verge of shutting down and your employees at risk of losing their job, health and life. No one wants any of these afflictions. Oftentimes, they are caused by human error, by machine malfunctions and by natural elements. Some can be put off within hours. Some can be longer and uncontrollable. Nonetheless, they are all ruin some and distressing. All of their grave effects are large-scale and life-changing.
The chiefest knowledge, skills, building structures and security are to be obtained and maintained even before you start up your business. You must neither be late not lacking regarding these things that can save you, your company and your workers. As a family makes sure everyone is safe, so should you ascertain that you can protect not only profit but also and most importantly, people.
Dangerous emergencies in the company may arrive as an undesirable surprise, so know how to gird up one’s loins and respond to them before, during and after their phenomenon.
