Small and Medium Sized Businesses: Gauging the Risks of Going without Backup Power

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. - June 12, 2014 - PRLog -- Total power outages and brownouts can be the result of a variety causes including weather related events, rolling blackouts due to imbalances in supply/demand for electricity, equipment failures, etc. Regardless of the reason, when a business without a backup generator loses power, the financial damage starts accruing almost immediately. Here are three areas of concern for businesses that lose power for durations ranging from hours to days:

·         Operations – The loss of power, whether it brings manufacturing to a halt or prevents the sales of goods/services, can become expensive very quickly. To get an estimate of how much an outage can cost your business, calculate the business’ average monthly sales and then divide that sum by the number of hours that the business operates per month. If your business’ sales numbers vary widely depending on seasonal effects, (retail sales during the holidays, for example) do separate calculations for busier months as well as for slower months to get a more accurate picture. Dividing monthly revenues by hours in operation will give you an estimate of the amount your business stands to lose during each hour of an outage.

·         Loss of data – A sudden shutdown in power can result in the loss of data on any computer that doesn’t also have battery power. For example, while laptops and tablets may continue to work, desktop computers will not, which can result in the loss of any data that wasn’t saved prior to the outage. While the value of the loss of proprietary data can be difficult to calculate, the rebuilding of other data and information can be estimated by totaling the hourly wages that will be consumed to replace the lost files. For example, if it takes 20 employees earning $20 per hour a total of three hours to rebuild lost data, the cost would be $1,200 (20 x $20 x 3). The loss of proprietary data has the potential to be much higher.

·         Damage to computers, servers, etc. – While a blackout may not damage electronic components, a power surge when the delivery of electricity resumes can prove to be catastrophic. These devices can also be damaged through extended operation during brownouts. Calculating the potential loss is a matter of determining the replacement value of electronic gear that could be damaged by a power surge.

When the potential financial risk of these concerns is added up, it’s easy to see that a single event can cost far more than the purchase of a generator to supply backup power. In fact, for a business that experiences long and/or frequent losses of power, a generator could potentially pay for the purchase cost many times over by eliminating these risks.

For additional information on events and products at Harbor Power House visit: http://harborpowerhouse.com

Press release distributed by Gervais Group. See original press release at https://www.gervaisgroupllc.com/newsroom.html