One in Four Businesses Won't Reopen After a Disaster. Is Yours Ready?

Emergency preparedness sits at the bottom of most small business owners' priority lists — until it doesn't. The SBA is direct about the stakes: reduce your risk of closure by having a tailored, accessible emergency response plan in place before a crisis hits, because 25% of businesses never reopen after a disaster. For small businesses across LaGrange, Hogansville, and West Point, the question isn't whether an emergency can happen — it's whether your operation has a plan to survive one.

Know the Specific Risks Your Business Faces

Not every emergency plan looks the same, because not every business faces the same threats. Your industry and your location are the two biggest factors shaping your vulnerability — a manufacturing facility near the I-85 corridor faces different risks than a downtown service firm or a Main Street retailer.

Troup County businesses should think through the hazards most relevant to their operations: severe weather, including tornado activity and flooding common to west Georgia; extended power outages; supply chain disruptions; and increasingly, data breaches. Identify your three to five most likely threats first, then build your plan around those specifically.

Write the Plan Down — All of It

Most owners have a rough mental plan for handling emergencies. That's not the same as a documented one that your whole team can execute. FEMA's guidance makes this clear: plan communications and IT recovery as core elements of your written preparedness plan, because the actions taken in the first few minutes of a crisis are often what determine outcomes.

A strong written plan covers:

• Evacuation procedures — clearly marked primary and secondary routes for each area of your facility

• Employee responsibilities — who calls 911, who accounts for all staff, who handles customer communications

• Vendor and supplier contacts — consolidated and accessible even if your systems go down

• Continuity priorities — which functions are most time-sensitive and what a minimum viable operation looks like

Bottom line: A plan that exists only in your head can't be followed by anyone else when you need them to act.

Build Your Emergency Communication System Before You Need It

When disaster hits, communications often fail first. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation identifies crisis communications as a top early failure during disasters — making a pre-built communications plan covering employees, vendors, and suppliers a critical pillar of preparedness, not an afterthought.

Set up a clear chain of contact: who notifies whom, in what order, and through which channel. Text messages typically get through when voice calls can't. Designate an out-of-area contact so employees have someone to reach if local networks go down. Include customers and key vendors in your plan — letting them know your status quickly reduces business disruption and preserves relationships.

Protect Your Business Data and Review Your Coverage

The data security threat to small businesses is larger than most owners expect. Know your data breach exposure — small businesses account for 43% of all data breaches, yet the majority of small business owners believe they're unlikely to be targeted. That gap leaves a lot of operations exposed.

Back up critical files — accounting records, customer data, vendor contracts, operational documents — to both a cloud-based solution and a physical offsite location. Test your restoration process at least once a year. A backup you've never tested is one you can't count on.

It's also worth reviewing your insurance coverage carefully. Federal Reserve survey data offers a telling benchmark: review your insurance coverage gaps — only 17% of disaster-affected small businesses had business disruption insurance, and only 16% had flood insurance, even though 65% cited power and utility loss as their primary source of losses. Those numbers haven't become less relevant.

Train Your Employees So They Know Their Roles

A plan only works if the people executing it understand what to do. Schedule a team walkthrough at least once a year, update it after significant staff changes, and include emergency procedures in new employee onboarding — not as a footnote, but as a real part of orientation.

When communicating your emergency procedures to staff, a well-structured presentation is far easier to follow than a dense document. If your emergency plan is saved as a PDF, you can convert it using Adobe Acrobat's PDF to PPT conversion tool. It works on any device without requiring additional software, and preserves your original formatting. Walking employees through a clear, visual slide deck helps them absorb and remember key steps.

Stock a Basic Emergency Kit Before You Need One

Basic emergency supplies are often remembered after the fact. Keep a stocked workplace kit that includes:

• A first aid kit, inspected and refreshed annually

• Flashlights and extra batteries

• Portable phone chargers

• Bottled water and non-perishable food for staff who may be on-site during an incident

• A printed physical contact list — don't rely on phones alone when networks may be down

Emergency Plans Have a Shelf Life

An emergency plan written two years ago may not account for staff turnover, new equipment, lease changes, or updated contact information. Schedule a brief annual review, and also revisit the plan whenever your business goes through a significant change: a key hire, a new facility, or a major operational shift.

The LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce connects members with the SBDC and other strategic partners who can help assess vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience planning. You can also access local emergency planning resources through the Columbus, GA Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, which provides free, locally tailored guidance for businesses preparing for both natural and man-made disasters.

No business owner wants to plan for the worst. But in Troup County — where manufacturers, retailers, and service businesses all face real regional risks — a written, tested emergency plan is what separates a temporary disruption from a permanent closure. Reach out to the Chamber to connect with the resources that can help you get prepared.