Majority of US small businesses are unprepared for disasters

A national survey of small businesses conducted by the American Red Cross and FedEx Corp. Has found that while 94 percent of small business owners believe there is a potential for a disaster to seriously disrupt their business within the next two years, only 43 percent feel prepared for a one week disruption of their business, and 22 percent feel prepared for a one month disruption. Importantly, many businesses do want to become better prepared, with almost a quarter of respondents indicating they are planning on taking steps to prepare their businesses for disaster.

While small businesses have taken some steps to prepare their business and their employees in advance of a disaster, they lag behind on several important indicators. A majority of businesses surveyed have developed employee phone lists for notifications and communication during a disaster (86 percent); ensured the safety of important business files or records (75 percent); and purchased insurance for business disruption or damage (80 percent). But businesses are much less likely to have completed other important steps. Only 41 percent have taken preparedness steps based on the type of disasters common to the business location and only 55 percent have communicated with employees about their roles before and during a disaster.

The Red Cross and FedEx are developing preparedness solutions to help small business owners develop an emergency plan and help their employees get prepared. A downloadable disaster preparedness checklist for small businesses will be made available at www.fedex.com/smallbiz, as well as discount coupons which FedEx small business customers can use to receive 10 percent off their final purchase of preparedness supplies at the Red Cross online store, www.redcross.org/store, from September 10, 2007- October 31, 2007.

•Date: 14th Sept 2007• Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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