Disaster Management: Plan Ahead

Your internal efforts, no matter how good, still are affected by the post-disaster condition of your suppliers. While his company survived Katrina without any safety or property damage issues, Crow says Home Depot Direct struggled with getting merchandise out without transportation. With that in mind, diversify your telcom suppliers, couriers and product sources. Some small, local suppliers can keep working even when national companies are out of commission, just because they absolutely have to. And they don’t necessarily triage their customers the way big companies do. Rogers points to Hammacher Schlemmer’s tradition in reeling off his company’s preparedness.