Downtime due to loss of power can be devastating to a company’s bottom line. Each minute you are without electricity is another minute where you are not earning revenue. In fact, you are doing just the opposite: you are losing cash. Fortunately, there are some ways to prevent this from happening. Today we are going to discuss ways to avoid power outages in your business.
How to Prevent Power Outages
From a technical standpoint, a business owner can never prevent a power outage. By and large, things such as blackouts and brownouts are caused at the source or somewhere along the power grid that you have no control over.
Further, power outages are frequently caused by events such as a severe storm or a blown transformer. However, this does not mean you can’t prevent your business from suffering the symptoms of an outage. In fact, with a small up-front investment and a little planning, you can make sure your business can survive any storm – pun intended.
Just as your small business has insurance, so, too, should it have what is known as a “business continuity plan.” Simply put, this is a plan of action if you do lose power. Most plans of this nature include having a contingency plan for receiving supplies and orders – something you can work out ahead of time with vendors or suppliers. You also need to work with your staff and train them to know how to respond once the lights go out and how to supply service or goods to your customers even if they do not have access to a traditional register or phone system.
Safety, too, should be a part of your plans. If the lights go out or dim, it will be difficult for employees and customers alike to see where they are going. This can lead to trips or falls and resulting injuries. Fire is another hazard; power surges before and after the lights go out/come back on can lead to electrical fires, so be sure your staff knows how to use fire extinguishers and other flame retardants.
One of the most important assets your company possesses is data. This can come in many forms: handwritten ledgers, computer files, and so forth. Computers that are subjected to a sudden shutdown due to power failure are susceptible to hard drive failure. Such a crash could result in data loss or corruption, causing you to lose valuable information, including customer contacts, past orders, invoices, and so forth. Installing a UPS – uninterruptible power supply -will prevent machines from shutting down abruptly and will help protect your valuable data.
Finally, having a backup generator that kicks in automatically once the lights go out will not only protect your machinery and computer equipment (as well as your data), but it will also keep your business up and running so that you don’t experience loss of income. A power generator will also increase customer trust, as they can count on you to be there for them when a lesser-prepared competitor has their lights go out!
Back-Up Generators in North Georgia
Want to learn more about backup generators for your Georgia business? Live in Hall County, Flowery Branch, Gainesville, or the surrounding areas? Contact the electrical contractor at Caldwell Electrical today and let us help you set up a power outage business contingency plan!
