Is Your Business Prepared For A Disaster?

When it comes to disaster readiness, can you ever be too prepared? According the Association of Small Business Development Centers, the effects of a disaster can be quite profound: More than one in four businesses will experience a significant crisis in a given year, and of those businesses that experience a disaster and have no emergency plan, 43 percent never reopen.

Is your small business vulnerable? A new national survey of 2,500 small businesses conducted by TNS NFO for Office Depot found:

* Three-quarters (71 percent) of small business owners do not have a disaster preparedness plan, and;

* While 52 percent claim to burn important files on a removable media device in order to keep data secure, only 11 percent keep copies at an off-site location.

"Not having a plan or back-up system in place can result in a business closing for good," says Tom Serio, director, global business continuity management for Office Depot. "Just as you would prepare your home and family for a potential disaster, it’s important that you also ready your business. There are simple and affordable solutions that will help protect you, your employees and your business."

Having weathered four major hurricanes in 2005 at the company’s corporate headquarters and its Gulf Coast store locations, Office Depot is using its real world experience to educate small businesses about disaster preparation. The Company is offering a free brochure entitled Expecting the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness Strategies for Small Business, which provides tips and product recommendations.

According to Serio, the key to effective planning is to protect your most valuable assets: your people and your data. He recommends following these tips:

* Build Solid Contact Lists: Keep contact information for employees, local emergency services, and key vendor and supplier information updated and easily accessible. Establish a clear process for communicating with one another.

* Back-Up Data: Protect your business from faltering after a disaster by backing-up key data at least once a week. Copy data to removable media, including CD-R and DVD-R discs, or to removable drives such as an Ativa Flash Drive.

* Secure Your Data: Move back-up software to a secure off-site location. Store copies and documents you use in day-to-day operations in a secure and fire-proof location. Periodically review stored data to ensure that the correct data is being copied and that it can be restored.

* Organize Supplies: Make sure you have the right supplies to withstand any interruption. This includes having access to important business tools like a laptop computer and car charger as well as the basic office supplies needed to run your business.

“You’ve worked hard to build your business. Don’t leave its future to chance,” adds Serio.

For the complete brochure visit, http://www.officedepot.com/getprepared.