Office Depot Offers Tips for Small Businesses to Prepare for Active 2010 Hurricane Season


Written by Phil on August 11, 2010 in disaster preparedness.

Office Depot, a global provider of office products and services, is urging small businesses to take the simple and affordable steps necessary to get prepared for the 2010 hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts 14 to 23 named storms this season and eight to 14 hurricanes — three to seven of which are expected to be category 3 or greater.

During recent inactive hurricane seasons, businesses facing economic challenges might have chosen to forgo some preparations. But business owners cannot afford to be complacent and risk losing their vital information and assets. According to NOAA, warm Atlantic Ocean water and upper atmospheric winds are likely to foster storm development, resulting in a busy hurricane season. In the event of a storm, Office Depot encourages its customers to be proactive and protect their valuables — their people, data and property — to help ensure their businesses can quickly get up-to-speed and back to business following a storm or a power outage.

“It is important that business owners acknowledge this year’s active storm forecast and make sure they are prepared,” said Bill Gavin, Director of Global Business Continuity for Office Depot. “Take the necessary precautions now so your business can be safe in the event of a storm.”

Office Depot advises small businesses to take the following steps before a storm or to help protect your business in the event of potential disruptions:

Protect Your People

  • Build solid contact lists. Include names and phone numbers of employees, vendors and emergency agencies. Have contact lists stored both inside and outside the office and perhaps kept in the possession of two or more trusted managers or staff members.
  • Establish emergency communications procedures.
  • Organize supplies.
  • Ensure you have sufficient water, food, and janitorial products, and that your company has access to cash, generators, and batteries
  • Provide employee assistance. Train at least one staff member in CPR and first aid and, if possible, prepare family disaster kits and alternative family housing.

Protect Your Data

  • Some companies looking to cut costs have increased the use of computer automation, making them more vulnerable to outages. Copy electronic data to a USB memory stick, CD-ROM or DVD-R using your PC’s optical drive to help the company be capable of rebounding faster.
  • Use a portable hard disk that can back up your entire PC disk drive at the touch of a button or use a ruggedized laptop computer that, like the other data copies, can be unplugged and taken with you to safeguard data against any emergencies.

“Having and executing a contingency plan is the quickest way to recover from a disaster,” Gavin said. “Business owners should schedule periodic reviews to make sure their plan is in sync with their business. By doing so, businesses can turn their preparedness plan into a recovery capability.”

For more information on disaster preparedness strategies for small businesses, see Office Depot Offers Tips for Small Businesses to Prepare for Active 2010 Hurricane Season: Simple and Affordable Steps Can Help To Weather The Storm.

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If you need a basic Business Continuity Plan ASAP… and your company is a small office/service/retailer or manufacturer/distributor with up to 250 employees, this “fill-in-the-blanks” template including three sample plans is perfect for you! Best of all, you don’t need prior business continuity experience.

Quick and Easy Business Continuity Plan for Your Small Business: Step-by-Step Template and Sample Plans

By Douglas M. Henderson

Reach for this “Quick and Easy” remedy if you’re suddenly tasked with developing a plan for disaster preparedness–and feel an impending anxiety attack because you don’t know quite where to start.

NOTE: This basic template is targeted to small businesses with little or no prior business continuity expertise who may not have the time nor expertise to build a full-scale business continuity program.

You don’t need any special training or expensive consultants. You don’t need to spend weeks and weeks or empty your bank account to build a basic business continuity program.

Just go page by page to edit the Microsoft Word template; updating instructions are included as needed in the template and you can refer to the exact same page in the three completed sample plans for guidance. Doug Henderson distills his extensive experience as a business continuity consultant to give you succinct, field tested tips for what to include and why. He includes an abundance of handy forms, checklists, charts and tables for easy completion and distribution. Just completing the forms for “Who’s in Charge” and Immediate Actions will give you a satisfying sense of accomplishment and momentum.

In only a few hours you’ll create a basic, yet fully customized plan unique to your business, which is also compliant with major standards. You’ll have a plan in place to address all the fundamentals of disaster preparedness – and you can build on it later as you have the time and need.

This basic business continuity toolkit includes…

  • One Microsoft Word template with color coded sections so you can customize your plan based on company size (under 100/up to 250 employees) and type (service/retail or manufacturer).
  • Three sample plans for three fictitious companies – a very small service or retail business (under 100 employees); a small service or retail business (up to 250 employees); and a small manufacturing business (up to 250 employees). Sometimes companies are a mixture of service/retail/manufacturing, so you may find parts of each sample plan applicable to your situation.
  • ReadMe.doc file with updating instructions to keep your plan current.
  • Bonus file with assorted how-to articles, including:
    • Coping With Physical Disaster
    • Family Disaster Planning
    • Business Survival in the 21st Century
    • Facility Evacuation

…and offers you many advantages:

  • Was developed by a 20-year veteran in business continuity consulting — a small business owner himself — who knows the specific needs of small businesses
  • Has been extensively field tested in a variety of business environments
  • Is written in Microsoft Word, designed with extensive “Fill-in-the-Blank” and “Edit-Out” text
  • Requires no special training in the discipline of Business Continuity Management (BCM)
  • Results in your own customized plan that addresses all the fundamentals, all within a few hours
  • Is compliant with professional standards from the Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1600 Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management, as well as industry best practices
  • Can be used for student practice in corporate training classes in business continuity/disaster recovery– site licensing available.
  • Provides an optional upgrade path to several more sophisticated templates and tools for whenever you’re ready to build a more comprehensive business program for your growing business.

Published by Rothstein Associates Inc.
ISBN 9781931332538
2010
Only $69.99!

NOTE: This basic template is targeted to small businesses with little or no prior business continuity expertise who may not have the time nor expertise to build a full-scale business continuity program.

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