In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, business owners find themselves slammed with several unknowns, including questions about recovering potentially lost data, securing coverage payouts from insurance companies, and developing estimates on when the business might open its doors once again.
Sadly, the numbers show that roughly 40% of businesses impacted by a disaster will never resume operations, and many of those who do will still fail shortly thereafter. As severe weather and climate events occur with increasing frequency, businesses are developing strategic partnerships with damage recovery services that not only assist in picking up the pieces but also preemptively preparing your business to weather any catastrophic event. This article lists the four key considerations on how to find the right partnership for your business.
What to Expect in the Immediate Aftermath of a Disaster
Every year, natural disasters cost an average of over $119 billion in the United States, based on total costs over the past 5 years. Whether the damage is primarily in the form of physical damage to your structure, the loss of valuable assets, or destroyed information records and data, you’ll be in a race against time as a business owner to pick up the pieces, cover losses, and resume operations as expediently as possible. Most businesses don’t make it, unfortunately.
The stresses of urgent action and overwhelming responsibilities can make your head spin, leaving you under-resourced to properly address the challenges you face. That’s why more and more businesses are turning to trusted environmental damage restoration partners for advice and recovery.
4 Key Considerations When Selecting a Damage Restoration Partner
As the cost of natural disasters continues to rise, so does the market for environmental damage restoration. A recent report from Straits Research estimates that the market size for disaster recovery solutions will grow at a CAGR of 34.5%, representing a value of over $115 billion by 2030 (compared to a valuation of roughly $8 billion in 2021).
In fact, part of your business’s strategic vision over the next several years should include developing a relationship with a damage restoration partner. But not all companies are created equal, especially considering the lack of regulations throughout the industry. That’s why it’s important to avoid being taken advantage of by a less than reputable option.
Here is a list of four key considerations when vetting damage restoration services:
- Do They Know How to Deal with Insurance Companies?
All too often, business owners forget to think ahead about how to deal with their insurance providers in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic event. Although you may think you have coverage, the difference between your level of exposure in theory and reality can diverge significantly.
An estimated 30-40% of small business owners have insurance plans to cover unforeseen business interruptions, as well as coverage for specific environmental disasters. However, there are countless cases of insurers underdelivering on their promises.
One of the highest profile cases was the insurance firms that profited $400 million after hurricane Sandy, in part by refusing to offer the full amount of coverage in their customers’ insurance policies. Although these situations have prompted FEMA to step up their oversight, the reality is that without experience dealing with your insurers, you too may receive less coverage than you deserve.
- Comprehensive Expertise in All Aspects of Damage Restoration
Environmental damage to businesses is happening with increasing frequency throughout industries, and you need a damage restoration partner that not only offers services relating to the core needs of disaster recovery, but also the more tailored specializations that vary from business-to-business and industry-to-industry. Your needs may extend from physical structure restoration, critical systems restoration (including power, cooling, security etc.), as well as IT infrastructure recovery.
You’ll want a disaster restoration partner with a long, varied, and successful track record in disaster restoration. You can often learn more about damage restoration services by visiting their websites and checking out reviews from their clients, but you can also vet them by speaking with one of their representatives and listening for evidence that they have an intimate understanding of your business operations and what steps will need to be taken.
- A Strong Company Culture with Dedicated Teams
When it comes to disaster recovery, a rate-limiting step will always be the accuracy time estimates and coordination of recovery services. These not only require a highly experienced disaster recovery partner, but one that has seamless lines of internal communication.
When information gets where it needs to go, it helps to eliminate errors, minimize misunderstandings, and enhance the speed and quality of disaster recovery efforts overall. You’ll want a disaster recovery service that brings you into a conversation on how to best get your business operational and demonstrates the capacity for internal disaster recovery teams to work in tandem with a high degree of competence and efficiency.
- Superior Customer Service
Emergencies don’t care about standard work hours, and they often require immediate action. That’s why you want a damage restoration partner that offers 24/7 availability. You also want your selected service to make you feel at ease in other areas of customer service, such as direct accessibility, high standards of professionalism, and an unwavering sense of empathy for businesses affected by environmental disasters.
Unfortunately, because business owners are left feeling overwhelmed and often desperate in the aftermath of a significant environmental event, they are highly vulnerable to services masquerading as disaster recovery services but offer shoddy work at a high price. The industry is also wrought with scammers who impersonate insurance providers , government disaster assistance agencies, and other entities in an effort to steal financial account information.
Why Businesses Trust Sphaera
Sphaera is an industry leader in developing, maintaining and restoring your IT and business critical infrastructure, and that includes a wide array of damage restoration services. Our teams work together closely to deliver the best response possible in the immediate aftermath of a severe weather event. Not only are we staffed with seasoned experts and tradespeople in restoring physical, critical and IT infrastructure, but we also emphasize the customer service businesses need, offering support and handholding across the difficult steps ahead.
We look forward to partnering with you. Visit our website or schedule a consultation to learn more.
