Six Lessons From Small Businesses Damaged by Superstorm Sandy:
'via Blog this'
Photo: Getty Images
Gerri Stansky knew Superstorm Sandy was going to be bad. She evacuated her home in Breezy Point Queens, NY to nearby Rockaway, where her in-laws and business, Strands hair salon, were located. But that wasn't far enough. During the worst of the storm, she watched eight feet of water surge outside, carrying pieces of boardwalk and railings with it. When the water receded, it left her home uninhabitable and her salon ruined. "My 11-year-old son still has nightmares about it," she said.
After Superstorm Sandy hit the eastern seaboard on October 29, it left devastation and billions of dollars of damage in its wake. And while the attention given to the storm's aftermath begins to fade from the headlines, many business owners like Stansky are still trying to pick up the pieces and keep their businesses going. Here are lessons that three hard-hit businesses have learned.
(Read more: Main Street on Hold as Debt Talks Drag On)
1. Reach out for help. Once they were able to get online, Stansky and her two partners, Diane Liello and Sal Amerio, reached out to their network. One of their suppliers found a salon in an unharmed area of nearby Brooklyn, that allowed them to share space. She estimates she has serviced roughly 75 percent of her regular clientele in the few weeks she's been at the new location.
2. Tap the cloud. Jennifer Walzer's company, Back Up My Info! (BUMI), specializes in cloud-based platforms that help companies keep their systems running when disasters strike. She found herself in need of off-site data resources herself after her office in downtown Manhattan was submerged in 35 feet of sea water following Sandy's storm surge. They have been able to work remotely by using a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone system and a cloud-based data platform
'via Blog this'
No comments:
Post a Comment