Are your business operations affected by blackouts and you do not have a blackout management plan in your company? With increasing incidents of electricity and other power sources going out, companies worldwide are feeling the pressure and it is having an impact on their day-to-day activities. 

Whether you are dealing with a sudden blackout or frequent disruptions, understanding how to deal with this issue can mean the difference between keeping operations running and potential damage to valuable resources. In this article we will discuss the implications of enduring a blackout and how businesses can prepare for such an event.

Through preventative steps like inspecting wiring systems regularly, being aware of current weather conditions that may lead to power loss, and investing in backup batteries or generators when possible, companies can better protect themselves from unexpected blackouts. Important to note that as businesses become increasingly dependent on technology, there is an ever-present risk of a sudden and total blackout. Blackouts can stem from natural disasters, human error, or even cyber-attacks – all resulting in serious disruption to your business operations. 

From communications breakdowns to IT system outages and data loss, a blackout can spell disaster for any company’s digital foundation. In this blog post we will be exploring the impact of blackouts on companies, how they can be prevented and steps that businesses should take if they are affected by one.

Business risks if a blackout happens 

As many companies depend on electricity to keep their operations running and accessible to customers. A blackout in the company can thus lead to disastrous results, both in terms of financial loss as well as customer service. There are a number of risks associated with a company blackout:

1. If you lose electricity, the disruption of services and processes can be severe and long lasting.
2. Undue stress on employees working during the outage.
3. Interrupted computer systems do not allow you to continue your operations.
4. Permanent data loss can be extremely dangerous for business if you do not have backup systems in place.
5. Damage caused by generator malfunction. 
6. Costly delays – depending on your business model the delays can cause a lot of financial damage during the blackout.
7. Health issues. Blackouts do not only cause stress and irritation, it can be extremely dangerous and even life threatening especially in construction and business operations where people work in difficult environments.
8. Burglaries. There is a risk of burglaries and thefts during a blackout if suddenly all your security infrastructure is offline.
9. Spoiled goods. If your business is in the food industry, during a power outage you can lose huge amounts of frozen food.
10. Loss of trust. If your business can not continue their operations during power outages, your clients may lose trust in your company and business. 

Furthermore, if sensitive financial services like credit card transactions need electricity to continue functioning correctly, a blackout could pose the risk of fraud. Although spotty electricity is an unavoidable reality in some industries and regions, businesses must make sure they are appropriately prepared for a complete blackout so that they can manage it quickly and reclaim lost revenue.

How to prepare your business for power outages

As a business owner, it is your responsibility to prepare your business in the event of a power outage. When it comes to planning for unexpected power outages, the first step is to create an emergency checklist with contingencies and safeguards. This should be done before disaster hits and include items such as investing in a various solutions:

1.Putting together a Business Continuity Team made up of key personnel from all the essential departments (Legal, Operations, HR and Finance) can help ensure your business emerges even stronger in uncertain times.

2. A generator or durable battery packs for mobile devices – a generator reacts instantly to any power outage and allows you to keep working even in long lasting blackouts.

3. Backup data plans with cloud storage services – it is extremely important to save all your data and business continuity management plans can come into help here.

4. Prepare a communication plan for a blackout situation. It is essential to business that people working in a company know how to react, where to go for help and who is responsible in such a situation. Unnecessary panic and chaos can cause even more damage.

5. Evacuation plans help to leave the buildings and offices in an orderly manner not causing any extra damage.

6. Prioritization plan. You must know what parts of your business are most important to save and bring to life first.

7. Water-resistant containers for vital documents and important assets.

8. Portable flashlights and candles with matches in case the outage happens at night.

9. Extra supply of non-perishable food for a situation where your employees or clients have to spend extended time in your premises (snow storms, floods, other disasters).

Whatever the situation may be, having a plan in place ahead of time will allow you to mitigate any potential losses or long-term impacts on customers or operations.

Effective communication among your employees can help to avoid any unneeded stress and dangerous situations. A detailed backup plan will help you not only to continue business processes, but as well avoid data loss, employee stress and can even save lives. 

An extra electricity source as a power generator or powerful batteries and a data backup plan will allow you to avoid huge business recuperation costs.

Business plan after a blackout

It is important not only to know how to work and continue business processes during a blackout, but also how to come back to full scale operations afterwards. After a blackout, businesses can feel paralyzed and unsure of what to do next. 

However, with the right strategy in place, businesses can make sure that comebacks are successful and not detrimental to their profits. Staying organized is crucial when getting operations back on track since there may have been some disruption due to the power outage. 

Setting plans for restocking, communication with customers, re-establishing normal practices, and developing a schedule should be the first priorities from the moment electricity is restored. By taking these steps in the wake of a blackout, organizations can ensure that their business does not lose its footing.

You have to as well assess what went wrong during the blackout: did your generator generate enough power? Did you lose your data? Was the communication between co-workers efficient and chaos was avoided?

All these questions must be answered in detail, so you can prepare even better for future blackouts and can simply continue your work even if such a situation arises.

New Voice International experience in blackout management

New Voice International has over 30 years experience installing different security infrastructures for all kinds of hazardous situations and business continuity management with backup plans is a big part of our business.

We can prepare you an extended backup plan so all your employees will stay safe during a power outage and will know how exactly to react and what to do in such situations.

We will assure the safety of your data with backup cloud solutions, we can help with communication plans and detailed evacuation plans.

With our MobiCall and MobiCall.App solutions we can assure that even in electricity loss situations we can support you with information via internet connection. A well thought detailed blackout management plan should be a part of  your safety infrastructure.