There is an old adage that says, "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst." In business, being prepared can be the difference between a major inconvenience and going under. Preparing for disasters is as essential to business continuity as having good insurance.

Disasters can take on many forms. We typically insure against the major ones, fire, flood, damaging winds, and theft. Lesser ones can have a major impact as well. Extended power outages, disgruntled employees, hardware failure, and careless mistakes can all adversely impact your bottom line.

For IT systems, having a good automated backup system with off site storage is a must. In recent years, costs of storage has dropped drastically. Backing up your business's financial records, customer lists, correspondence, and other vital information can be done at a very affordable price.

Local backup systems are good in the event of a computer hardware failure or in case of accidental or malicious deletion of records. However, a local backup is of little use when the building is reduced to ash or rubble. Securely storing your data off site is absolutely necessary. With good backups, data can be restored and your business back up and fully functional in a matter of hours.

Another potential area for disaster preparedness is extended power outages. Backup power generations systems are an expensive option, but depending on the business, can still be a wise investment. Systems can vary based on power requirements. Companies with large inventory of refrigerated items can prevent considerable loss by insuring that the refrigeration systems stay up and running. A more powerful unit that can provide all your buildings power requirements may also be an option and one many businesses should consider. Restaurants and convenience stores with backup systems can see business increase four fold during an outage if the competition is shut down. When you're the only lights in town, people come from miles around. At very least, IT systems should have sufficient battery backup to allow controlled shutdown of systems to prevent file corruption.

Companies without sufficient disaster recovery plans should make formulating a plan and putting systems in place a top priority. Most would not consider operating their business without insurance. Sometimes staying afloat in time of disaster takes more than financial security. Delaying implementation of a disaster recover plan can be a costly mistake.