The earthquake on 26 November was first a human tragedy, and the response to it belongs to the families affected and the people helping them. What follows concerns only the business question many owners are now asking, which is what to do differently.
The companies that resumed fastest were not the ones with the most resources. They were the ones that could answer three questions.
Where are the records?
Businesses whose accounting, contracts and customer data existed only on a machine in the office faced a second problem on top of the building. Those whose records were held off site, or with a provider, could work from anywhere with a laptop.
This is the cheapest resilience available. Copies held somewhere physically distant, tested by actually opening them, and a written list of what exists and where.
Who decides, and how are people reached?
In the first hours, the constraint is coordination. A current contact list held somewhere other than the office, a named deputy for each critical role, and an agreed channel for information make an enormous difference.
Staff safety comes before operations, and a plan that starts with accounting for people is also the plan that works commercially.
What can be done from somewhere else?
Most companies have never asked which functions genuinely require the premises. Usually fewer than assumed. Knowing in advance which activities can relocate, and what they need to do so, converts weeks of improvisation into days.
Then look at the paperwork
Two practical matters follow. Check what your insurance actually covers, including business interruption, and whether the sums insured still reflect current values — under-insurance is widespread and only discovered at claim. And review the force majeure and delay provisions in contracts you both hold and grant, before rather than during a dispute.
None of this is expensive. It is a day of thinking, written down, kept somewhere other than the office.