There is nothing quite as important as keeping your business running even during an emergency. In early 2020, with the spread of Covid-19, many emergency plans had to be executed. In this series, we will look at the kinds of emergency procedures that should be included in your businesses plan. I will also share a few of the mishaps I’ve had with my own plan over the last 10 years–since opening Compass Commercial in Troy, MI. One never knows when an emergency or disaster will happen, so be forewarned and prepared.

The Backstory on Our Disaster Recovery Plan

Every business should have a written disaster recovery plan no matter the size of the company. However, a disaster recovery plan is only as useful as the information collected and the thought put into the plan. Back in 2014, I was feeling pretty good about the plan for Compass Commercial. Then, one hot afternoon in the middle of the summer, the electric substation across the street from our offices caught on fire. The building was closed. The staff drove to my house and started working remotely. Unfortunately, this was before we had moved to the cloud. Our server was less than a year old, and we did not have the ability to log onto it from anywhere. No electricity meant no internet and, therefore, no access to our files.

I had to drive to the office, disconnect the server and computers, and bring them home so that we could work. Ultimately, everything worked out for us. But, it was not as smooth of a transition as I thought it would be.

Follow our Disaster Recovery Series as I share my experiences to help you avoid some of the issues I had with my business. Even though I thought everything would be fine in an emergency, there is always something around the corner.