Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Keep Your Business Safe During a Natural Disaster

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Keep Your Business Safe During a Natural Disaster If it seems like natural disasters are increasing, its not your imagination. And those disasters have a very real effect on companys bottom lines. According to a 2018 report by theUnited Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, direct economic losses due to climate-related disasters have increased 150 percent over the last 20 years. During the period of 1998-2017, disaster-hit countries reported direct economic losses of $2,908 billion. The United States was hit hardest at $945 billion. As you might expect, floods and storms are the two most frequently occurring disasters. Given these numbers, every business owner today may want to considerproactively developingdisaster strategiesto protect human and material assets and maintain a healthy amount of working capital should trouble strike. Lets examine four solutions for natural disasters you might employ to keep your business safe and increase your peace of mind. 1. Practice strong working capital management. Working capitalis the difference between a companys current assets like cash,unpaid bills and inventories of raw materials and finished goods, and its current liabilities such as payroll and taxes. Business owners use working capital to measure operational efficiency and overall financial health. Just as smart business owners build working capital reserves during anticipated slow periods, you should develop a similar strategy to cope with natural disaster-related disruption. Ensuring thatyou have enough cash and liquid assets on hand to cover sudden expenses and/or loss of income can mean the difference between your business survival and its demise. 2. Take a second look at your insurance. Now is the time to review your insurance policies and assess how well (or not) youd be covered in a natural disaster. Sometimesit isnt intuitive. Using thehurricane scenario as an example, your run-of-the-mill business policy might cover losses from broken glass thats the result of high winds and flooding thats the result of rain. But if you want to protect your location from flooding that comes from groundwater, you mayrequire supplementary flood insurance. If you live in an area prone to hurricanes, you can expect to pay higher premiums, and some carriers may not insure you at all. For more detailed information on whats generally covered and where, review theInsurance Information Instituteswebsite. For the rest of the piece, head over to the AMEX Business site.