Decision Analyst, Inc., a leading international marketing firm, conducted an online survey of 451 small-business decision makers and Emerson commissioned it.  The survey attempted to determine when a power outage strikes are small businesses prepared to deal with the disruption.

 

The survey revealed:

 

· Only 39% of them have back-up power capacity to keep lights on, computers running and employees working.

· 42% of these companies that experienced outages had to close the doors during outages.

· 79% experienced at least one power outage in 2007.

· 29% experienced three or more.

· SMB believe power outages are a substantial threat ahead of fire, government regulation, weather damage,

theft and employee turnover in terms of business threats.

· 61% do not have back up power supplies.

· 56% agree that back-up power represents a competitive advantage.

· 62% of the business who have a business continuity plan have back-up power while 29% of those businesses who do not have a plan but have back up power.

· The majority of outages occur in the summer, 38%  although respondents report 24% occurred in winter.

· It is interesting to note that the majority of respondents mistakenly believe that U. S. businesses experience power outages less frequently than other developed countries.

· According to the Electric Power Research Institute US customers lose power for 214 minutes a year compared to 70 minutes for the United Kingdom, 53 minutes for France and 6 minutes for Japan.  The average Japanese business loses power once every 20 years.  The average American customer, excluding hurricanes and other strong storms, loses power once every nine months.

The biggest threats to power loss are Mother Nature (48%) and excessive stress on the power grid (38%).  Businesses need to plan for power outages so that they will not disrupt operations and lose revenue.  SMB companies cannot afford to go offline.