Helping Small Businesses Prepare
Small businesses are not always the owners of the building where they operate. That can limit what can be done to prepare for a natural disaster, but every business should be prepared regardless.
“Small business owners may be tenants of the building, so there is lessor’s risk, and with lessor’s risk, there’s often limitations about what can be done with that building,” said Ross Haigler, head of commercial lines at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). “For example, who is responsible for building upgrades? Is it the tenant, is it the landlord, or is it the property management firm?” he asked.
Small business commercial properties, whether rented spaces or owned property, might also be older buildings, he added. “So, the aging infrastructure contributes to how well these buildings perform when they’re tested against extreme weather events,” Haigler added. “That exposure really highlights the risk of convective storms in older buildings and why they might have failure mechanisms such as a leaky roof.”
Haigler said IBHS often “preaches” that the roof is the first line of defense against natural disasters relating to wind, hail, and flooding, especially for small businesses where an aging roof or an aging roof covering can lead to a single breach of water into that building. That type of event could potentially close down that business, he said.
IBHS offers business continuity planning toolkits, free and accessible on their website, as a resource for small businesses. They recommend long-term strategies include taking preventative risk mitigation measures, such as trimming trees around the property to mitigate roof damage in the event of high winds, snow, or ice; installing a generator in case of power outages (especially for refrigeration-dependent businesses); and when owning the building, making sure the building materials are high quality.
Haigler said when possible, agents can help their small business clients prepare for future natural disasters by encouraging simple routine property inspections.
“Ensure that those facilities are routinely inspected and maintained and that the roof is up to standard and able to prevent rainfall from coming in,” he said. “Routine maintenance is one of the items that often goes unnoticed, but it also has one of the largest potential outcomes of a severe weather event.”
Most importantly, Haigler advised to have a plan for when disaster strikes.
“From a business continuity perspective, most important is to ask the important questions, like: Who are your major suppliers? What happens if that building is unable to return to working conditions quickly? Are you able to work offline? Who are your distributors? Who are your customers? How are you communicating? And then, have an up-to-date inventory of what is in your building just in case.”