Small business owners like Julian Fayard who lost his home in the hurricane has a petrol station and grocery store in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He spent every waking hour since the hurricane to get his business up and running. Within minutes of opening his business customers were queuing for hundreds of meters. Julian Fayard is not alone, similar scenes are occurring throughout southern Mississippi.

Local radio stations deliver messages from employers asking staff to return to work and contractors are hiring labor to help with debris clearance and repairs.

Picking up the pieces after Katrina will be harder for small businesses without support from large corporations and assess to small business disaster recovery loan. Julian Fayard is lucky; economists from the US Congressional Office estimate that Katrina will wipe out 400,000 jobs. According to Mary Lynn Wilkerson, director of Louisiana Small Business Development centers, more than 110,000 small businesses in Louisiana have been destroyed. "Small businesses are uniquely vulnerable to disaster", says Donna R. Childs, co-author of Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery: A Small Business Guide.

Fallback On Contingency Plans, Insurance and Backed Up Records

Even companies that prepared their companies for disaster by developing contingency or disaster recovery and business continuity plans will find it hard to recover from Katrina. It will take time for insurance companies to pay out claims for physical damage and lost profits. Without backed up records as evidence to support their insurance claims small business owners will face delay in settlement.

Small Business Continuity - How To Small Business Owners Can Increase Their Chances Of Saving Their Business
As business owners come to survey your business they'll discover the full damage. Here are some tips on how to carry out an effective survey:

1. Take Photos

Carry a camera and take plenty of pictures as this will help in insurance claim or when applying for a Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan. Focus on what's been destroyed and damaged.

2. Contact People Who Can Help You Stay In Business

Your next step is to prepare a list of people to contact - People who can help you stay in business; employees, supplies and customers. Communicate the fact that you're trying to "pick up the pieces" and relaunch the business. This is critical as it sends the right signal that'll stop rumors spreading that your business has been wiped out by the disaster.

Make of list of people to call and prioritize it based on "greatest need". For example, suppliers who are about to make a big delivery, shipment in transit or big deadlines that are due should be high priority.

Contact competitors to enquire if they have excess space you can lease. Your competitors understand your situation and quite often they can help with other stuff, like computers and office furniture.

SBA Small Business Disaster Loan

The Federal Government has declare areas affected by the Katrina hurricane as disaster areas and this allow small businesses to apply to the SBA for Small business disaster loans if they don't have business insurance or where insurance coverage is not adequate to compensate for total loss.

To apply for a small business disaster loan business owners should first contact the local office of the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) who will direct them to the SBA.

David Davis
Small Business Resource