Red Cross helps businesses prepare for the worst

If you own a business, you know the importance of preparedness. You prepare for client meetings, taxes, presentations and so on. One of the hardest things to prepare for, however, is a disaster. It is easy to put disaster preparedness at the back of your mind, especially if a disaster is not happening presently.

According to a survey the Red Cross conducted in 2009, 89 percent of those surveyed felt it is necessary to be prepared for a disaster, but only 12 percent had an emergency disaster plan in place. Just as your prepare a budget and ways to save money, preparing for a disaster can save your business thousands of dollars and assist with business continuity.

The Ready Rating™ Program from the American Red Cross is a free, online program that can help you prepare for different disasters scenarios that can affect your business, from floods to fires to illnesses. When you sign up for the program, you learn about how prepared your business truly is to handle any emergency. After completing the readiness survey, you receive feedback regarding how to improve your business disaster planning efforts. Even if you have created a business disaster plan, you can still benefit from the Rating Ready™ Program because you may learn of ways to better prepare your employees or learn about consideration you did not think about when you made your plan.

After creating your business emergency disaster plan, learn the steps to recover from a disaster.

[Image: American Red Cross]