How To Keep Your Business Operational When The Office Power Goes Out

Power cuts can put an end to business productivity and leave you in the dark…literally! 

They happen at the worst time, meaning you waste valuable hours being unable to work. During this period, how many calls are you missing out on? How many leads are slipping through your net? It may not seem like a huge deal initially, but a loss of power can be problematic for a small business. 

Keeping that in mind, let’s figure out how to maintain business productivity when the office power goes out. There are two main options to consider - look at both and decide which one is the best to implement in your business. 

Option 1: Work From Home

When the power goes out and you lose internet access at the office, one solution is to send everyone home. Nowadays, it’s possible to run your whole business from home and operate on a remote setup. Some people choose to do this, but it’s also a great contingency plan if you’re in the office. 

Sending everyone home means they can continue working remotely and being productive. You only have a slight blip as everyone goes away and gets set up again. But, you may be able to compensate for this by working a bit longer at the end of the day. The main benefit of working from home is that anyone can do it and it’s cost-effective. You don’t need to invest in things; your employees simply drive or walk home and work from a different location. 

The downside of working from home is that it does take a bit of time for people to move between workplaces. Also, you have internet worries - what if some employees have terrible internet access? Still, it should be good enough to tide you over until the power is fixed. Realistically, things should be back to normal in a few hours, so you can head back to the office tomorrow. 

Option 2: An Emergency Power Source

The second option is to invest in an emergency power source. This can be a backup generator or a temporary power supply that’s delivered to your office. Make sure any power sources are installed by an accredited level 2 service provider to ensure they work and won’t let you down. Now, you have another source of power when the main one goes out. 

This is highly beneficial as you can flick a switch and your office is suddenly up and running again. It minimizes downtime, allowing you and your workers to maintain a steady level of productivity throughout the day. 

On the negative side, this idea will cost money and there’s a time limit on your backup power. What if there’s a serious electricity issue and your office loses power for the entire day or more? Can you guarantee your emergency power source will last? In truth, it’s rare that this will be an issue, making this option more than viable in 99% of cases. 

Both of these ideas show that you can still work when the office power goes out. The key is to react quickly. Set these contingency plans in place before an issue like this happens so everyone knows what to do. It’ll allow you to immediately leave the office and work from home or switch on your alternative power source so less time is wasted and productivity can remain high! 

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