Rinse and Repeat

According to FEMA, "Almost 40% of small businesses never reopen their doors following a disaster because just a few inches of water can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage." Let's think about that for a minute, "...just a few inches of water..." Nearly HALF of small businesses close up shop just because of a few inches of water. What an incredible, and depressing, statistic!

What's the first likely culprit that comes to mind when thinking of where a few inches, or more, of water could come from? Flooding? But unless you live along the coast or a major waterway, flooding is unlikely. But what about sprinkler systems? With commercial building code and insurance requirements for sprinkler systems in commercial buildings, would your business survive if that system was activated and flooded your building space?

What if you share space with another business, that has a higher likelihood than your business of causing a sprinkler system to be activated? I'm working with a client that shares a location with a popular fast food restaurant. While my client has little risk of setting off a sprinkler system due to the nature of their business, if the tenant they share a building with has an issue that causes building damage, my client is now impacted due to that shared space.

So if you want to be a business that isn't one wash and done, but instead be a business that can rinse and repeat, take a look around your place of business, and ask yourself, where can water come from and how could it impact my business.

You'll be making a big first step in building resilience into your business for every day.