According to one study, weather-related power outages have doubled since 2003. Those are tough odds, especially considering that 25% of small and mid-sized businesses that close because of a major disaster never reopen.

You can beat the odds and protect your business with a continuity plan. A well-crafted plan will help you identify critical business functions and the actions you can take during and after a storm or any emergency.

Start by asking yourself these important questions:

• Do we have reliable backup power?
• What if we have to relocate?
• What are our IT recovery procedures? Are there manual workarounds?
• Are we protected against power surges and other power quality issues?
• Do we need flood insurance?

See Business Continuity Plan from Ready.gov for more information and resources for developing your plan. Once you have a plan in place, conduct training so that employees know what they should do in an emergency. Make it a part of orientation training so that no one misses a beat.

Whether it's a major storm, a flood or some other disaster, make sure you're ready to keep your business moving in the right direction.