The SBA has come out with some statistics, and they’re a little staggering. Over half of small businesses have no plan in place for when disaster strikes. This number isn’t even taking hackers and worms into account: half of people who own small businesses don’t even plan for natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes.

Even more surprising is that when over 200 businesses across the nation were asked to participate in an emergency preparedness survey, 51% never had practiced evacuation drills and 47% had not assigned employee rolls in case of a major disaster. 77% of these businesses also said they had not encouraged employees to create disaster preparedness plans on their own, and a few companies even stated that such plans were “a waste of time”.

The question is not so much why people haven’t gotten plans together, but why they think disasters won’t happen to them. Another study done by the SBA indicates that over 25% of companies – large and small – will be affected by a major disaster at some point in any given year. Even though 50% of business owners don’t think they could recover from a disaster in less than six months, only 39% are prepared to handle more than a week’s worth of disruption in their usual schedules.

Sometimes the lack of such preparation is completely justified – lack of resources and expertise is becoming more of a problem for many businesses. However, there are some easy, simple, inexpensive steps that can protect a business from the worst case scenario. Having a plan can make the difference between losing your entire company and just suffering a small inconvenience.

One of the easiest ways to plan for disasters is using another company’s disaster recovery plan. Our company can of course help with that – we offer incredibly affordable prices and customized packages so your back-up plan won’t break the bank. If you still don’t think you can afford professional recovery plans, look at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to find valuable worksheets and information on recovery planning, including sheets on risk assessment and insurance reviews.

Take a few days and really plan out your disaster recovery – after all, protecting everything that you’ve worked so hard for should always be one of your first priorities.