How to Get Your Business Ready for a Typhoon

Typhoons are unavoidable catastrophes. The Philippines is one of the nations that experience extreme devastation when a typhoon strikes; it is one of the deadliest and most powerful occurrences to ever strike a nation. Typhoons can be anticipated, in contrast to earthquakes. Although we can predict it, we can never stop it from happening. Therefore, business preparedness when a typhoon comes is essential to survival for many, if not all, firms. Here are some tips on how to get your company ready for a typhoon. 

You still have a few more months to safeguard your company since the typhoon season lasts from June to November. This is crucial because the destruction of commercial buildings like hotels, restaurants, resorts, and factories, to name a few, may force many business owners and their employees into poverty because they would have no other way to make a living.

Advice on How to Prepare Your Business for the Typhoon Season

Asset and Facility Management

• Plan where you will bring your goods in the event of flooding. If you expect to flood, relocate your products to a safe place in advance or take other precautions to be sure they won’t be harmed by floods.
• Review the details of your insurance. You should be aware of whether your facilities (stores, warehouses, etc.) have flood damage insurance prior to the typhoon season.
• You need comprehensive motor car insurance with its coverage if your business depends on your fleets. Businesses in Metro Manila had a major wake-up call from Ondoy, and to this day, you can still hear stories of cars that were “na-Ondoy” ooded during that storm.
• Prepare backup supplies. This is useful if your regular supplier is unable to provide your company with the supplies it needs to function during and after a storm.
• Businesses aren’t only about the products you sell; they also depend on the resources you have available to run them. You don’t have to worry too much about losing your files if your computers are damaged during the storm thanks to cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox, which are free to use.

HR Guidelines

• Examine your HR rules to see how you might strike a balance between your company’s needs and the security of your personnel. Have a discussion with your staff to make sure they are aware of what to do if a typhoon makes it impossible for them to go to work.
• Do you have procedures in place to reward workers who put in extra hours to cover for colleagues who couldn’t make it to work?
• Plan ahead for situations where employees CANNOT go home. Are workers permitted to spend the night at the workplace? Do you have resources available to help employees who are confined to their offices?
• Do you have a procedure in place to notify your staff when it becomes too bad outside before work hours whether they should report to work? It is best to cascade this information to team leaders.
• Do you have a strategy in place for helping employees who have suffered storm-related losses? One approach to assist is by planning a donation drive with the aid of other staff members.

Helping employees apply for their SSS catastrophe benefits is another method to support them.

Marketing and Sales

• Some companies experience an increase in sales before or after a typhoon. As people attempt to support their homes before a storm or repair their homes after a storm, hardware companies may experience an increase in business. Make sure you have enough supplies on hand to meet a storm’s fast demand.
• Some people, on the other hand, are less fortunate when the rainy season arrives since they experience a decline in sales during this period. With your team, come up with ideas for how to maintain seasonal sales growth. Sale promotions and concentrating your marketing efforts on goods that consumers need as the weather turns chilly might be effective.

Additional Reminder when Typhoon Hits

1. Protect the structure. Make sure you have the supplies on hand for your property’s repair and restoration both before and after the storm. 
2. Be current. Being conscious means being ready. By continuously following the news online, on the radio, or on TV, you can keep yourself informed. 
3. Different Storage. If there is flooding, you should have a backup warehouse or storage space for your goods. 
4. Prepare your first aid kit. This applies to your employees as well as to you. Nothing is more crucial than a space that is injury-free. 
5. Knowing all the local emergency phone numbers is crucial in the event of a fire or other tragedy. 
6. Protect your files. Ensure the safety of any business-related documents. 
7. If you have insurance, be aware of it. Find out everything you need to know about your company’s insurance in case any facilities or property are harmed. 
8. Hold routine meetings with your team or workers. Keep them abreast of all the necessary measures in case a disaster like a typhoon strikes or instruct them on them.
9. Different typhoons struck the nation in each year, drastically affecting around one-tenth of the population, and most businesses quickly grasped the value of being prepared for such an event. 

We need to know how to set up your business for a typhoon given the extensive damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure, and agriculture. Never let up because if we do, not only will our lives be at danger, but also our colleagues’ futures.

Conclusion

The Philippines is prone to catastrophes; in fact, typhoons hit our nation on average 20 times per year. It is beneficial to be as prepared as you can for catastrophes because PAGASA has already issued a warning that this year’s storms would be greater due to the El Nino phenomena.

Another storm as strong and destructive as Typhoon Yolanda, which struck in 2013, is very likely given the trend of increasingly destructive storms that have slammed the nation.

What other measures have you taken to get ready for typhoon season? How are you preparing for the difficulties that the season brings? Comment below and let us know!