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If your business is located in an area heavily affected by winter weather, the right preparation can avoid interruption and reduce risk to your property. If a snow day is in the forecast, here's what your business can do to get ready.
Create a Notification Policy
It's important to keep your employees in the loop so that they know what to expect. If there are days employees are permitted to work from home or times you expect a full team to be present, make sure you inform your staff. With an email or text message policy in place, you can ensure that all employees know when and where to be, even if the weather takes an unexpected turn.
Establish Remote Operations
If you expect the winter weather to impact the accessibility of your business at any time, it's important to provide as many remote work resources as possible. This can include:
Take Winter Weather Precautions
Winterizing your property is necessary if you want to keep your energy costs low and your property fully functional.
You can:
Pick a Plow
If your company relies on a physical location and would prefer to minimize closures, you will need a winter weather traffic plan before a storm hits. Consider hiring a plowing company or contractor in advance to keep your parking lot, street area, and sidewalks safe for use when the snow begins to fall. This will also help minimize problems for employees driving to work in the snow.
Review Rules for Employee Coverage
If you close up shop and tell your team to stay home but do not have a business that is conducive to remote operations, be sure you are familiar with local and federal rules for paying employees.
Utilize Online Options
If you have an online store in addition to a brick and mortar location, a snow day is the perfect time to play up sales and emphasize remote opportunities. An email marketing campaign telling customers that your physical store is closed but your online store is open for business can help customers continue to shop. When paired with a promo code or sales event, you can sweeten the deal and make snow day sales.
Winter weather can be a bear, but with proper preparation you can make it through the upcoming months relatively unscathed. From property maintenance to employee precautions, taking proper steps now can pay off later.
Create a Notification Policy
It's important to keep your employees in the loop so that they know what to expect. If there are days employees are permitted to work from home or times you expect a full team to be present, make sure you inform your staff. With an email or text message policy in place, you can ensure that all employees know when and where to be, even if the weather takes an unexpected turn.
Establish Remote Operations
If you expect the winter weather to impact the accessibility of your business at any time, it's important to provide as many remote work resources as possible. This can include:
- Establishing virtual access to databases and in-office resources via software solutions
- Providing laptops to employees
- Implementing project management software for easy communication
- Assigning tasks that don't require an in-office presence prior to reports of winter weather
Take Winter Weather Precautions
Winterizing your property is necessary if you want to keep your energy costs low and your property fully functional.
You can:
- Check and update caulking and weather stripping around windows and doorways
- Check insulation, both in the walls and around your pipes. Any outdoor pipes should be covered in pre-split polyethylene
- Ready your fleet with snow tires, chains, full gas tanks, and any other vehicle-specific precautions
- Install a generator so your business can keep running, even if the weather causes a power outage
- Put an emergency kit(s) together with flashlights, emergency food, batteries, and a radio
- Take care of building maintenance, such as keeping gutters and storm drains clean
- Trim trees with dead, low-hanging, or otherwise problematic branches that could fall and cause injury or property damage
- Check insurance policies to ensure weather damage and any potentially related problems are covered
Pick a Plow
If your company relies on a physical location and would prefer to minimize closures, you will need a winter weather traffic plan before a storm hits. Consider hiring a plowing company or contractor in advance to keep your parking lot, street area, and sidewalks safe for use when the snow begins to fall. This will also help minimize problems for employees driving to work in the snow.
Review Rules for Employee Coverage
If you close up shop and tell your team to stay home but do not have a business that is conducive to remote operations, be sure you are familiar with local and federal rules for paying employees.
Utilize Online Options
If you have an online store in addition to a brick and mortar location, a snow day is the perfect time to play up sales and emphasize remote opportunities. An email marketing campaign telling customers that your physical store is closed but your online store is open for business can help customers continue to shop. When paired with a promo code or sales event, you can sweeten the deal and make snow day sales.
Winter weather can be a bear, but with proper preparation you can make it through the upcoming months relatively unscathed. From property maintenance to employee precautions, taking proper steps now can pay off later.
