Hurricane Sandy: Now is NOT the Time to Experiment

"Wonder Weapons"

As I type these words, the winds from Hurricane Sandy are whipping through the trees just outside my window here in Maryland. At the same time, I have also noticed a rapid change in direction of people's attitude toward technology.


In a disaster, companies sometimes try to deploy a new technology to get themselves out of trouble. They don't realize the threat of the disaster, and so they hope a gadget or software platform will do the job for them.

It won't.

We would never deploy a new technology on the sales floor if we hadn't mastered it and tested it. Follow this same philosophy during a disaster. Basically, it is too late to start a Business Continuity Plan or Disaster Plan if you are in Hurricane Sandy's path, so just rely on what you know. 

We all procrastinate before disaster strikes (yes, even I do). But I never let a technology that promises to get me out of trouble be deployed before I know what I am getting into. I like to call these "Wonder Weapons" because they promise to solve problems in wonderous, amazing fashion.

They won't.

Rely on the technology that you have already mastered and deployed, especially during a storm like Sandy. It's tried and true, and won't let you down. Don't let the speed and direction of the wind blow you away from your core instincts as a small business owner.

Use what you know, and your business will be on track to Reverse Disaster.


Patrick Hardy

Is Hurricane Sandy "The Perfect Storm"?

Hurricane Sandy is making national headlines in the United States because of its proximity to the East Coast, and the possibility of a strong landfall. But that isn't the only reason it remains in the news.
Meterologists have identified a number of similar characteristics between Hurricane Sandy and The Halloween Nor'easter of 1991, known in popular parlance as "The Perfect Storm".

Courtesy of NOAA

Nor'easters are very similar in characteristic to Hurricanes. It usually describes a low-pressure area where the rotating center is off the East Coast, providing hurricane-force high winds, rain or snow, coastal erosion, and possibly even blizzard conditions.  


Is Hurricane Sandy "The Perfect Storm"?

The simple answer is: no one knows.

As of today (roughly 5 days out), there is no certainty that this storm will even make landfall. By Saturday and Sunday, we should have a pretty good idea what is next.

The National Weather Service put out a three page statement with a lot of jargon that you and I are unlikely to understand without an advanced degree in meterology. However, as a business owner, this is perhaps the only relevant passage [caps are in original]:

"IT IS LIKELY THAT SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS WILL BE FELT OVER PORTIONS OF THE U.S. EAST COAST THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK."

So how do you prepare for "The Perfect Storm"?

Don't let the verbiage of it being a supposed "Perfect Storm" scare you into thinking this is the disaster to end all disasters.

Keep a few things in mind:

1. Only the National Weather Service can declare Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings. Here is where to find those:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCVAT3+shtml/251446.shtml

2. Storms change their track quickly. The computers and satellites are constantly updating it. This is the current picture:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/115907.shtml?5-daynl#contents
 
3. Storms change their power rankings daily. It may be predicted to be a stronger or weaker storm based upon modifications in temperature or cloud drift.

As a business owner, don't wait to the last minute! Start gearing up your facility for Sandy. Even if she doesn't make landfall, you can chalk it up to a realistic exercise where you can test your disaster plan.




If you want day-by-day (and hour-by-hour) tips on what to do leading up to the storm, follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hytropy

Patrick Hardy

The Most Dangerous Thing a Small Business Can Say “No” To

There is an 80% chance you will be struck by a disaster or a major interruption at some point during your company’s lifetime. That is a sobering reality, especially since statistics show that small businesses without a disaster plan are playing a dangerous game.

It doesn’t matter if it is a brick and mortar business or an online company with a single owner and no employees. If you are interrupted by a disaster, and are not back in business within a month, your chances of survival are less than 1 in 10.

Unfortunately, I see this a lot in the disaster business.  Small businesses who still think they can just wing it and get through a major disruption. Why would you do that when every single Fortune 500 company has a robust disaster program? Not a single one of those companies would wing it. The reason is because they recognize that a disaster program is the company’s chance to make money, and not lose valuable customer relationships. 



So do you still need a disaster plan? Yes you do, for one reason: you have the most to lose.

When Wal-Mart has a store closed for a couple of days, it loses ten to twenty thousand dollars. For them, that’s nothing. They can easily make that back in just a few days, especially since their marketing position is such that they have broad appeal almost anywhere they are situated, and they know it.

Want to know a secret? 

Wal-Mart probably has the best disaster and business continuity plan of any brick and mortar company in the world.

They don’t care if they can make lost money back. They want to be open to show their customers, the community, and their competitors that they mean business. Wal-Mart won’t give an inch away that it doesn’t have to, because they take disasters seriously. Companies without disaster plans that do survive needlessly spend a lot of money to do so. 

I spoke a couple years in a row at a state restaurant association in an area known for massive disasters. After one of my presentations, a guy came up to me and told me that he was recommending to the association that they no longer have disaster management educational sessions.

When I asked why, he said it was because his restaurant had been struck by a disaster twice and he had survived both times without a disaster plan. After asking a few more questions, he said had spent about $18,000 on each one to completely return to normal.

I absolutely couldn’t believe it. There is no rhyme or reason why a small business restaurant should spend nearly $40,000 to be continuous after a couple disasters. What he doesn’t realize (or refuses to) is those losses will eventually catch back up to him.

Do you have $40,000 to spend on a disaster response? Do you want to spend that on a disaster response? Or would you rather have that to renovate your store, or buy more advertising time or invest in your employees?

What he also doesn’t realize is a disaster can cost you more than just money spent on responding. There are a host of intangibles that can’t really be quantified by money, such as public relations, brand perception, loss of future customers, and even the loss of qualified employees. I knew companies that lost great managers to other businesses because they weren’t open in time, while their competitors were ready to take their valuable skills.

The original company couldn’t pay them during the 8 weeks they were closed, and the employees still had bills to pay and mouths to feed. That compounds the problem because now your competitors have an edge on you, and you now have to either: hire and train new employees or make significant sacrifice to get the ones you lost back.


A good disaster program will make sure that you have a disaster plan that is tailored to your business, with training of your employees and periodic exercising of the program with realistic scenarios.

Your small business has the most to lose, so do what your Fortune 500 counterparts do: get a disaster program. It's not worth saying "No" to.



Patrick Hardy LL.M, CEM, ALEM, LEM-Pro