The Importance of Business Disaster Planning

The recent tornado that struck Mapleton, Iowa should serve as a somber reminder to us all the importance of business disaster planning. It was not that long ago, that Parkersburg was also hit by a tornado, causing over $6 million in damage and so much more in grief. Around that same time, the state suffered massive flooding in some of Iowa’s largest metros impacting hundreds of small business owners. Even as this blog post is put up, discussions abound with our friends up north in Minnesota as they battle the Red River.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we co-hosted a webinar with the Iowa Association of Business and Industry covering what things to consider in your disaster plan. If you haven’t already, now is the time to start planning out how you will handle potential disasters. Here are just some of the statistics that David Fulton with FDI Consulting, Inc shared during his webinar with us last month:

• 655 FEMA Declared Disasters in the US this century 2000-present (58 per year and 13 already this year)! Iowa has 13 in this same period with 2 still active!
• On average, U.S. businesses experience 2 hours of downtime per week.
• Based upon a 3M study, 30% of computer users spend one week per year reconstructing lost data.
• 72.2% of U.S. companies have had business operations interrupted because of power outages.
• 52.2% of U.S. companies have had business operations interrupted because of computer hardware problems
• 43.1% of U.S. companies have had business operations interrupted because of software problems.
• 34.4% of U.S. companies have had business operations interrupted because of human error.
• 46% of U.S. companies have had business operations interrupted because of telecommunications failure

All of our thoughts and prayers are with the community of Mapleton. We hope for their speedy recovery from this tragedy.  You can click here to watch David Fulton’s webinar on business disaster planning.

For those business owners who have been through a disaster before: what advice do you have for Mapleton business owners?

Rob Williams is a Business Analyst for the University of Northern Iowa