Small Business Protection

The creation of a business continuity plan using the IBHS Open for Business® program helped Jennifer and Daniel De Moras meet the needs of their customers when a Nor'easter struck their area in February 2007.

 

A University of New Hampshire's Small Business Development Center seminar introduced Jennifer De Moras to Open for Business® in July 2006 and she picked up a copy of the toolkit. It contained forms that made the process of creating a business continuity plan simpler, and this plan ultimately allowed them to operate the business from another location when 30 inches of snow made getting to their actual storefront impossible.

“I started reading some of the materials and taking advice. Some of the stuff may seem like common knowledge, but you just don't think of it until you go over the plan,” Jennifer said. “It doesn't require a huge change. It's more like a mental note to do a step that maybe you didn't think about before.”

 

When many other businesses were shuttered by the record snowfall, Memos of New Hampshire – the only office supply and services store in a 60-mile radius around Colebrook – was able to meet the needs of 300 business customers, including a hospital, which must continue operating whatever the weather.