Hurricane Sandy…It felt like someone said to me… “Okay Carrie, this is going to hurt. I’m going to hit you really hard. I won’t tell you exactly where. I will give you a few days to prepare but no matter what you do, I’m coming. You won’t be able to avoid me.”
We went to the bank and got cash. We filled the cars with gas, shut the storm windows, tied down
the trampoline and put the trashcans in the garage. We filled the bathtub and pitchers with water. We ate the perishable foods, bought some non-perishables and made sure we had lots of icepacks. We charged all of our appliances, gathered flashlights and batteries and braced ourselves.
Monday was stormy. It was windy and rainy, but honestly it was just a yucky day. There was an impending sense of doom as we watched the barometer in our living room fall to record lows. We waited. Were our preparations good enough? The wind picked up. We heard trees falling. We saw lights in the sky — transformers blowing up. What would it look like tomorrow?
Tuesday dawned. It was still windy and rainy but the worst of the storm had passed overnight. We were lucky. Our trees were standing. Our electricity was flowing. Our basement was dry. Our cars had enough gas for a couple of weeks (if we were careful) and we had cash in our wallets.
So what does this have to do with your business?
Be honest with yourself for a moment. There are things in your business that you know are looming problems. Things you know are going to come up and bite you. When it came to Sandy many people ignored the warnings. They figured they’d ride it out just like they’ve done before. They were warned, they’ve been lucky before and tried to just duck the problem again.
Sure Sandy turned out to be a lot worse then even the experts thought. I don’t think anyone expected the devastation that she brought. I don’t think anyone expected the gas shortages here in NY and NJ and power outages lasting over a week.
Look around at your business. What disasters are looming? What steps can you take to shore things up now BEFORE it’s too late?
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