This is Mark Stowers with Increase My Small Business. Unfortunately the national news has been filled lately with reports on floods or anticipated floods, particularly in the Midwest. I want to share some business plan tips on how to prepare for things like this so your small business can survive. Noah’s ark isn’t an option here.

I want to start off with a story about a flood in Australia, simply to emphasize how detrimental floods can be to businesses. In January 2011 one of the worst floods ever hit Australia and led to disaster. Of course many things were affected by the flood, but for businesses, the economy was affected and the inflation rate increased significantly, also many were left in trouble due to property damage.

Now this is just an example from Australia to understand that flooding is a worldwide problem for businesses. But now I am going to talk about flooding in the United States. Here is what I highly suggest…let me repeat, highly suggest…look into flood insurance! Everyone is at risk whether or not your business is located in a flood zone. Some people are misinformed and think that flood insurance is only available to people living in flood zones, this is not true. In many cases if you live in a so called “participating community” you are able to get insurance. Being a business mentor myself I would highly suggest looking into this. Also don’t think that just because you have business insurance you automatically have flood coverage; flood insurance is totally separate.

You don’t want to risk your small business success when a natural disaster strikes. If you happen to find yourself in trouble after a flood, or any disaster, there are plenty of firms that specialize in business coaching to help you get back on your feet.

Thanks for reading. This is Mark Stowers with Increase My Small Business. Also, be sure to join us on increasemysmallbusiness.com and on Podomatic for Increase My Small Business.