You would think that after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy and last month’s brutal East Coast snow storm, more and more people would start to take disaster preparation seriously. While that may be true for “preppers” taking shelter in the event of an impending apocalypse, it’s not so much the case for small businesses.
A survey of 600 small business owners conducted by Alibaba, Vendio and Auctiva in December of 2012 illustrated their preparedness in the event of a natural disaster, and the results were not too promising.
Among some of the more alarming statistics collected is the fact that 74 percent of American small businesses do not have any disaster plan, while 84 percent do not have disaster insurance. In the event of a power outage, 71 percent of the respondents admitted to lacking a back-up generator.
Not all of the information revealed through the survey projected a negative outlook for future disaster scenarios. Two stats that were positive – as well as indicating how tech-savvy small business owners are today – were that 62 percent of respondents said that they could operate their business via mobile phone, while 30 percent said they store their information in the cloud.
For all those out there worried that the next big super storm might descend on your business, heed these warnings.
