The phrase "disaster recovery plan" may sound like something that only big companies would create (although many big companies don't have them). If you own a business of any size, you need to think ahead: What do I do if a tornado, flood, hurricane, fire, explosion, etc., damages my business site and all its equipment?

• A disaster recovery plan does not have to consist of complicated legal-ese. In fact, the more plain English you use, the better. In essence, it outlines how you will replace equipment, computer files, and other valuable assets if a disaster damages or destroys them.

• If you have company records on computer, you need to make regular back-ups of your files and then store those back-ups offsite--in other words, somewhere else. In case of a fire, you will be able to recover those backups from the remote location when you are ready to get back in business.

• Important customer purchase and customer service records should also be stored offsite because you don't have every customer's phone numbers, postal and email addresses burned into your memory.

• Include in your disaster recovery plan which employees will be called in immediately to start the business clean-up, or if you are a one-person shop, who will you call on for assistance in getting reorganized, post-disaster.
• Make a list of necessary equipment that will have to be replaced in case of damage/destruction in a fire, flood, explosion. This includes desks, chairs, telephones. The decorative flower pots can wait.
• In your disaster recovery plan, estimate the time-frame necessary to get back in business. Indicate if you will need a line-of-credit at the local bank to keep you afloat until you can get the business site reconstructed.
• In your plan, make notes on how you will notify your customers if your business involves servicing clients on a regular basis. This may involve making an email list of addresses and keeping it in your home, so that you can let the customers know that you are in a recovery phase.
• If creating a "disaster recovery plan" seems more than you can handle, talk to some friends who are also business owners and ask them what they would do in similar circumstances. They may give you topics to address that you hadn't thought of.
• The best hope is that you will never have to use your disaster recovery plan, but if a disaster occurs, you will be more than glad that you took the time to plan ahead.