Use The Local Internet To Disaster Proof Your Small Business By Sharon Fling

First Hurricane Katrina, now Hurricane Rita. As if small business owners don't have enough to contend with, being hit with a disaster from out of the blue has become an all too common reality.

It was almost my reality last week, as we watched Hurricane Rita approach Houston. We wondered if we should join the mass exodus, but ultimately decided to prepare as best we could and ride out the storm. (As an ex-Californian, I still would take a hurricane over an earthquake any day...at least you know it's coming!)

As we boarded up windows and prepared for life without electricity, I gained a renewed appreciation for having an online business.

If forced to flee, I could take my laptop with me. If the house blew away (and we got out in time), our business would survive as long as we had backups of all the files.

But what about people with brick-and-mortar businesses? With the exception of gas stations and convenience stores, most small businesses that depended on foot traffic suffered an immediate drop in income, and by Friday they were all closed.

Fortunately for Houston, Rita turned at the last minute and hit the Texas-Louisiana border instead. Most small businesses in the Texas cities of Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange (my hometown) are still closed because everything is in shambles. Same thing in Louisiana, especially Lake Charles, nearby cities, and of course, New Orleans.

Just like that, they're out of business. For a month or more, if not permanently.

Could this happen to you? I don't know of any place in the world that's disaster proof, do you?

There was an article in the Houston Chronicle the other day about the owner of two women's apparel shops in Louisiana, one in the French Quarter and the other in a small city about 40 miles away. She had only recently started to recover from a rough patch, and was doing okay...until Katrina hit.

Now her French Quarter store remains closed, and sales are sluggish at the other location. She's being forced to deeply discount merchandise just to move it. Her few sales aren't even covering her costs.

She had insurance for business interruptions, but her insurer insists that damages should be covered by flood insurance. However, her flood insurance company says the policy won't pay because the store didn't flood. She's afraid that neither policy will pay. Even if one of them does, it may be too little, too late.

As she wonders how she will pull out of this, her warning for every small business owner is clear: you can't count on your insurance to get your business back on its feet.

So, if you own a brick-and-mortar business that depends on people to come through the door, then yes, it could happen to you.

And it's all the more reason for brick-and-mortar businesses to have an Internet presence -- one that will continue to function even in the face of disaster.

Now, I don't know much about apparel stores, but I do shop in them. And even if I couldn't visit my favorite clothing store in person, I'd still want to continue to shop there however possible. (Especially if I wanted them to stay in business.)

Off the top of my head, here are a few ways a retail store might use the Internet to stay afloat after a Hurricane Katrina-type disaster:

- sell merchandise online (can be as simple as just listing pictures of items for sale, or a full-blown shopping cart)

- actively collect email addresses from existing customers and prospects, then email them and announce new location, hurricane specials, etc.

- open up an eBay store and auction off unsold inventory

- write a how-to manual on your business & sell it online

- depending on the merchandise, possibly use Google Adwords or other Pay-Per-Click search engines to find buyers

Now, none of these ideas are terribly original but guess what? They don't have to be! These same methods are making money for small business owners every day of the week.

The wise brick-and-mortar business owner uses their online presence to enhance their offline operation, and that's what it should be -- another weapon in your marketing arsenal.

But in desperate situations, like those facing victims of Katrina, Rita, and the next disaster, having an Internet presence may not be simply another way to reach customers and prospects -- it may be the ONLY way to keep the business from going under.



Sharon Fling is the author of "How To Promote Your Local Business On the Internet", and creator of GeoLocal.com, which focuses exclusively on internet marketing for small local business. For more information, visit http://www.geolocal.com or send a blank email to:
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