Having your business destroyed by any disaster can be heartbreaking and tough to handle. Because of where Massachusetts is located, it has suffered from many natural disasters over the years including tornados, fires, and even hurricanes.
Numerous Massachusetts homes, businesses, and lives have been lost to natural disasters throughout the years. Many business owners don’t know the first thing about what steps to take when their business is destroyed, but fortunately there are a lot of things that can be done to get things up and running again quickly.
Assess the Situation
The first thing you need to do is assess the situation. Go to the location to see if there is anything salvageable left and how bad the damage really is. There are times when the entire business needs to be replaced and times when areas simply need to be repaired.
Knowing how bad the damage is will allow you to determine what needs to be done in the future.
Contact Your Insurance Company
When you own a business, it’s often a requirement to have insurance on your business. When a disaster happens, the insurance company should cover all or most of the repairs that need to be done.Disaster
Many people make the mistake of thinking that insurance only covers natural disasters, but that’s not always the case. It will also cover manmade disasters. If someone commits arson on your business, the insurance company will cover the cost of the damage.
When you contact the insurance company, they’ll send an insurance adjuster to your business to access the damage. The agent will determine who much they assume the damage will cost to repair and let you know what that amount is.
This amount is designed to cover the cost of labor, materials, and any equipment that needs to be replaced. If you find out later on down the road that the amount wasn’t enough, you can file for an adjustment to have the amount increased.
Get an Estimate for the Repairs
Before you can have anything repaired, you need to know what the cost will be for everything. Hire a contractor to provide you with a detailed invoice for everything that needs to be repaired and what the individuals price is for each item.
Be sure the estimate includes the cost for labor, supplies, and equipment so that you aren’t surprised with an inflated bill at the end of the repairs. You want to establish a budget and stick to it so that you can be in as little debt as possible when everything is finished.
Be open to using used equipment, this allows you to save money on the overall cost. Many businesses sell used equipment when they replace them with newer items.
You can have items inspected and serviced before they are installed so that they work as good as new when you go to use them. The items can be replaced with new items in the future when your business starts making a profit again.
Determine If an Emergency Loan Fund Has Been Established
There are times when states or counties will establish an emergency loan fund for businesses that have been damaged by a disaster. For example, Massachusetts recently had a gas disaster that caused devastation for many of the local businesses.
Lenders within the state have created an emergency loan fund that allows the you to get the money need to make necessary repairs. This could be a saving grace for many of the smaller businesses that were struggling before the disaster hit.
If an emergency loan fund has been established, you need to file for the loan as quickly as you can. The amount of available money will be limited and the sooner you apply for it, the better your chances will be to get approved for it.
Apply for a Private Money Loan
Many small business owners don’t realize that they can use the equity in their property to get a loan from private money lenders Massachusetts. The lenders use the value of the property as collateral toward the loan. If there is no emergency loan fund in your area, getting a private money loan may be a great option for you to consider.
It’s important to know that you won’t have as long to pay back a private money loan as you would a loan that you get from a bank. This is because the lenders are private lenders, not established banks. You need to get your business up and running as quickly as you can so that you can pay off this type of loan right away.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
Once you have the money that you need to do the necessary repairs on your business, don’t be afraid to ask for help from your loved ones and the community. When a disaster hits, many communities ban together to try to rebuild. Without businesses in the area, the community will not be able to thrive. If you send out a message on social media or through a newscast that your business needs help in order to reopen, you may be surprised by the outpour from the community of people that are ready and willing to give you the help that you need.
Rebuilding after a disaster isn’t easy to do. It’s important to try to stay patient and positive if you want to reopen your business with as much success as possible. Once everything is repaired, hold a huge reopening party so that you can get people in the door and celebrate the accomplishment of the business reopening. Know that areas hit by a disaster often take years to recover economically so don’t give up hope but be reasonable with the amounts you charge and the services you provide to ensure that you can keep your business afloat until the economy in the area recovers.
