Owning and operating your own business means that it often falls on your shoulders to think of everything: from hiring employees to getting the right kind of business insurance. One thing you may have not considered is having a backup generator. While it may seem uncommon to have the power go out in your building, it does happen, and you can suffer significant loss if it occurs. When the power goes out, your business operations will halt until it is restored. If the power is out for an extended period of time, your business income continues to suffer, sometimes until it has made a severe impact on your assets. The importance of purchasing a backup generator for your business is something that should be considered as part of your overall disaster preparedness.
Reasons to Purchase a Backup Generator
The reasons to purchase a backup generator are plenty, all of which will help to improve your business and prevent potential disastrous situations as a result of the loss of your main power supply.
- Avoid Business Interruptions – If there is a power outage in your area that affects your company’s building, then business operations will freeze. In order to avoid these business interruptions, you should get a backup generator so that you can continue business as usual until the power is back on.
- Consistent Power Supply – Aside from business interruptions, you also want consistent power supply for other reasons. The power in your building is needed for electrical appliances, equipment, security systems, A/C units, and other items that are run by electricity. If the power is disrupted, all of these things stop working in your business office. As an added benefit to the power supply in your building, a backup generator helps with voltage fluctuations from your power company.
- Cost Savings – Many types of equipment and machinery is run on electricity, and when your company goes without power, all of this will stop functioning normally. The costs associated with other forms of backup power are much higher than those associated with having a backup generator, not to mention the cost of replacing anything that malfunctioned during the power outage, or the loss of business when it was interrupted.
Types of Backup Generator
There are two main types of backup generators you can consider for your business. Each has its own characteristics, benefits, and disadvantages which should be researched before purchasing a generator.
- Portable Generator – If you’re concerned with the cost of a backup generator, a portable generator is a good option. Portable generators will cost less and only require a few electrical items if your company suffers a power outage. They are also smaller, hence the word portable, and are moved from their storage or garage area to where you need them. Portable generators use gasoline to function, so you should also consider this cost. Since portable generators use gasoline, you will also need carbon monoxide detectors in the building.
- Standby Generator – Standby generators are more expensive but also more permanent additions to your office. Their fuel source is either natural gas or propane, and can power your business much more quickly than a portable generator. Because it is a permanent fixture, it doesn’t need t be hauled from another location which reduces the power-up time even more.
If you’re concerned with losing business from probable power outages, then you should consider the importance of purchasing a backup generator for your business. Choose wisely and each type of backup generator is significantly different in the cost and convenience.
