Six ways to work around loadshedding as a business

South Africa has been dealing with loadshedding since 2007. 

The fifteen years of power cuts has led to thousands of people in the country losing their jobs.

Businesses who need and rely on electricity have been hardest hit. Some have even had to shut down and many others that are still operating are faced with loss of profits during loadshedding.

But the good news is that loadshedding doesn’t have to be the end of your business. 

Let’s explore six ways you can successfully run your business without worrying about loadshedding: 

READ: Win R50,000 worth of backup power options with OUTsurance!

Plan

Failing to plan is planning to fail. Having a plan means you are one step ahead of managing a crisis and you can decrease wasteful activities. 

The good thing with loadshedding is that the power utility communicates when it is going to switch off the electricity and for how long the loadshedding is scheduled for. This means you can check the schedule for your area and have a contingency plan for when loadshedding hits.

Backup power

If power is crucial to your business, then you need to invest in automatic backup power. 

There are many backup power systems such as batteries, solar, UPS, and generators that can be used to provide energy when the primary source fails, but you have to get the right one that covers your needs. 

Certain businesses use speed points for payments. Sadly, when there is loadshedding, the network can be affected, and some machines might not work if their batteries are not charged. Many portable card machines have batteries that will last for hours, so when the power is back, make sure that you fully charge the batteries. 

Also have a backup telephone line in case of emergencies when loadshedding affects your landline. 

Have a budget set aside for emergencies 

Including a budget for emergency power cuts will go a long way in saving your business. For instance, if you have to use a generator as a back-up power plan, you will need to purchase fuel. This will require an extra budget than you would normally put aside for electricity.

Communicate to your consumers 

There are many ways you can reach your consumers, either through email or SMS. Let them know that your business is one step ahead when it comes to managing loadshedding and you have things under control. 

This gives consumers peace of mind knowing that they can rely on you to operate or deliver even when loadshedding hits. 

READ: What R50,000 can buy you to protect your business from loadshedding

Security

When it is dark, your business can be left exposed to thieves. This is why it is important to make sure there is automatic backup power that will ensure your business is never left in the dark. 

Shifts

Loadshedding affects productivity. 

Time is money, which means any lost time will negatively affect the bottom line. This is why it is important for businesses to look at how they will compensate the time lost during loadshedding. 

Many businesses are adopting a shift system for their employees. This will ensure that people don’t just get paid to wait for power to return. 

Talk to your employees and work around how they can work shifts so that the business does not lose hours and money due to power cuts.

Want to stand a chance to win R50,000 towards your backup power needs? OUTsurance will give one lucky business owner R50,000 to make their backup power supply dreams a reality. All you need to do is WhatsApp 'lightsOUT' to 084 850 0942 to get started or click here to enter.

You could also win a live promotional spot on-air, just like these lucky winners below:

Image courtesy of iStock/ @AJ Paulsen