Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

Paris flooding! Recent news told of curators at the Louvre moving priceless treasures up above the flood waters of the Seine. Closer to home, a high-end resale shop was completely ruined last week when the building’s sprinkler system burst. What would you do if such a disaster struck your livelihood?

Can your resale or consignment business survive a disaster?

Does your business have a formal disaster recovery plan?

While some businesses are devastated by disaster, others continue with only a few missed beats. What’s the difference? Prior planning! Consider these basic precautions:

 
Store vital records off-site. Consignment records, mailing lists, bills and invoices, and accounting records should be duplicated in a second location, at home or in a safe-deposit box. Memory sticks and cloud storage are additional places. Make sure any backups are automatic… trust me, you’ll soon get tired of remembering to do this every evening. You’ll be able to rebuild your data base with scarcely a bleep on your business radar.

Plan for alternate work space. If your store is uninhabitable, where will you set up a temporary headquarters? Many companies have reciprocal agreements with similar businesses in town. See if the children’s shop across town will enter such an agreement with your womenswear store.

Review your insurance. Especially if you’ve added inventory or equipment. Look at business-interruption insurance which can supply you with funds to cover expenses. This can cover remodeling and payroll costs. During the disaster, keep your agent up-to-date and allow her/him to suggest your next steps.

Schedule disaster drills with employees. Each disaster requires different plans of action, so review all possible situations, from electrical outages to hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes. Then practice.

Set post-disaster goals. Maintain contact with key suppliers and customers and keep them. Pre-design broadcast email and social media posts to keep business alive. You want these to sound upbeat and if you wait until your Chanels are floating down the channel newly-born on Main Street, you will have a tough time striking the right chord.

Establish communications. Designate a communications coordinator, responsible for having available all employees’ home and cell phones and addresses and keeping them posted on procedures before, during, and after emergencies.

Plan to restock quickly. Even if your business survives relatively unharmed, such may not be the case with your suppliers. Your business may be at risk if you cannot supply needed merchandise quickly. Perhaps your peers 30 miles away will “loan” you goods so your business can restock your community.

Put your plan in writing. Record all aspects of your plan in a computer file and looseleaf notebook kept off premises. Include insurance, equipment, staff, and plans. It is also wise to research and list resources ahead of time. You may someday thank heaven for your list of companies that cover windows, places that rent wet-dry vacs, etc.

Keep your banker informed. If you have a loan, offset jitters by letting officers know what you are doing. If you will need additional financing or a moratorium, they will be more agreeable if they know what’s going on.

Read more on coping with situations you’d rather didn’t exist.