Do you have an emergency strategy in place?

Within our client base we have seen many a tragedy - from floods, to fires, to break-ins and in one instance a very brazen robbery where they came through the wall of the empty store next door. When any of these things happen, it's devastating for the business. So let's do a small checklist of things to review - let's call it spring cleaning - to make sure that you are protected in case any of these things happen to your business.

1. Immediately check your insurance policy to make sure you have enough coverage for your entire store, including all your merchandise, fixtures, equipment, supplies, building, etc. Call your insurance agent if you're not sure. Although it may be tempting, this is no place to cut costs.

2. Talk to us about our Managed Online Backup Service and sign up for online data protection if you don't already have it. Cost starts at $9.99/month for 4 GB of RMS SQL data. Merchandise and other "stuff" can be replaced, but your data cannot. Imagine the crippling effect it would have if your lost your customer lists, your sales and inventory data, and your financial records. Fires, storms, theft, floods, computer failure, and more put your business at risk. We use our Online Backup in conjunction with other back-up strategies and it has been worth its weight in gold. Get Online Backup

3. Write an emergency procedure for your staff. What should be done first, second, third, in case of a fire? Or a power outage? Or earthquake? Or tornado? Or if the store is robbed? If you don't know what you should do, call your fire department or police department. They can help you. Having these procedures in place can save lives, prevent injuries, and minimize damage to your business.

Of course we hope none of these things ever happen to you, but if they do, we want you to be able to be back up and running with the least amount of disruption to your business.