Drafting your business plan involves contacting potential vendors, developing your product line, and identifying premises. You account for all these expenses in your proposed budget, but you probably overlook one of the most crucial areas: emergency preparedness. Ask yourself these questions to ensure that you’re ready to respond to disasters.
What Is Your Fire Response Plan?
When a fire happens at your new workplace, you need a plan to prevent people from panicking and to mitigate the damage to your building and supplies. Find out what it takes to have an installation of Fire Code California so that you have a sprinkler system when you open your doors. Estimate how many rooms your premises have and add in the cost of one fire extinguisher per room. Finally, find out how much smoke alarms cost and how many you need for your premises.
What Communication Services Do You Have?
Your workplace’s communication services are a key part of your emergency preparedness. If you’re not investing in a landline, you need to establish another way to contact emergency services, such as requiring employees to keep their cell phones close at all times. Additionally, without a landline, it’s difficult for first responders to trace your call, so you must post your address throughout the building. Balance the cost of a landline phone with these inconveniences in your proposed budget.
What Medical Supplies Do You Need?
Every business needs a variety of medical supplies to keep its employees safe, and these are usually costly. Include the price of first aid kits, an automated external defibrillator, and a backboard in your budget draft.
Most first-time entrepreneurs underestimate the cost of running their businesses because they forget about emergency expenses. Ask yourself these questions to ensure that you have enough funds to keep your employees and customers safe.
