A hurricane season checklist for Caribbean shop owners

The Atlantic hurricane season, which includes the Caribbean Sea, runs from June 1 to November 30, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Activity does not spread evenly across those six months. The centre puts the peak at about September 10, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. In an average season from 1991 to 2020, there were 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes, and the first named storm typically forms around the second half of June. Individual seasons can be much quieter or much busier than the average.

For a shop, a storm warning does three things at once. Customers rush in for supplies, so demand for certain items spikes for a day or two. Your supply chain slows or stops, so you cannot restock quickly. And afterwards, power, roads and phone networks may be down, so you may have to trade with no electricity and no card terminal. A checklist you built in May serves you better than a plan you invent the day before landfall.

• Check insurance. Ask your insurer what is covered, including stock, premises and loss of income, and what proof of stock value they want. Photograph the shop and shelves now.
• Make a product list with costs. A list of what you normally hold and what it cost you is the backbone of any claim and of your own recovery.
• Agree who does what. Write down who closes up, who moves stock, who calls suppliers and who holds the keys.
• Buy supplies. Heavy plastic sheeting, tape, a torch and spare batteries, a power bank, a battery or solar light, and a paper receipt book.
• Know your suppliers' storm plan. Ask your main distributors how they handle orders before and after a storm.
• Set up a records backup. Decide where a copy of your product list and sales records lives away from the shop, such as a cloud folder or a relative's phone.

A shop that guesses what to stock ends up with a back room full of the wrong things. Work from your own sales instead. Look at what sold fastest in the days before the last storm warning, or in the last holiday rush. Customers tend to buy things for being without power and water: water, non-perishable food, batteries and torches, matches and candles, ready-to-eat items, basic medicines you are allowed to sell, and staples like bread.

The arithmetic is the same as for any busy season, and planning for busy season goes through it in detail. Here is a short version using plain numbers, not forecasts.

1. Find your normal daily sales

   Say you sell 20 cases of bottled water in a normal week, which is about 3 a day.

2. Estimate the surge

   Suppose your records from the last warning show you sold about five times the normal rate in the two days beforehand. That is 3 a day x 5 x 2 days = 30 cases extra.

3. Check against cash and space

   If a case costs $9 and you buy 30, that is $270 of cash and shelf space. Decide whether you can afford it, and whether you can sell what is left over after the storm.

4. Order early, accept less

   Suppliers run out and close fast. Order a few days ahead of any warning and accept that you will probably get less than you asked for.

Be cautious with anything that needs a fridge or freezer. Frozen and chilled goods spoil once power fails, and a day without refrigeration can wipe out that stock. Keep chilled stock lean going into a warning, and check your lines that sell slowly. The guide on slow-moving stock explains which products tie up money without paying it back.

• Lift stock off the floor. Put the most valuable and most water-sensitive items on higher shelves or racks, away from windows and from doors.
• Wrap what water would ruin. Paper goods, sugar, flour, rice, cardboard-packed items and electronics should be covered in plastic and sealed.
• Move high-value, small items out. Phone cards, accessories, cigarettes and spirits are easy to carry and easy to lose. Take them to a safe place if you can.
• Count before you close. A quick stock count before the storm gives you a baseline. Without it, you will be guessing what the storm cost you. A stock count without closing shows a fast way.
• Secure the premises. Board or shutter windows, clear drains and gutters, and move outdoor stock, signs and equipment inside.
• Switch off and unplug. Turn off equipment you do not need and unplug sensitive electronics, per local safety advice.

Cash is the first thing you may need and the hardest thing to replace. Bank what you can before the warning, keep a modest float in a safe place away from the shop, and do not leave cash in a till overnight. Record any cash you take with you, so your next cash-up balances. If digital payments will not work without power or signal, tell customers early that you are cash-only, as power cuts at the till explains.

Keep a copy of your records somewhere that survives the shop. That means your product list with costs, your recent sales summaries, your supplier contacts, your insurance policy number and your tax details. A photo of each on your phone, plus a copy in cloud storage or with someone you trust, is enough. If you keep records on paper, photograph the pages. Water destroys notebooks quickly.

Do not rush to reopen, and do not rush to throw things away. Check the premises are safe first, take photographs of everything before you move or clear it, and keep damaged goods until you have counted and recorded them, unless they are a health hazard. Spoiled food is a hazard, so photograph and record it, then dispose of it safely.

1. Photograph the damage

   Take wide shots and close-ups of damaged shelves, stock and equipment. Include the date.

2. Count what you have

   Separate stock into undamaged, damaged but sellable, and damaged beyond sale. Count each group by product.

3. Record damaged stock as damaged

   Remove it from your stock as a damage write-off, not as a sale or a correction. It is a real loss, and your records should show it as one. Value it at cost.

4. Total the loss

   If 40 cans of a product that cost $2.50 were ruined, that is a $100 loss. Add up every product to get the figure for your insurer and for your own books.

5. Restock from what sells

   Reopen with essentials first. Customers coming back will want basics, water and ready-to-eat items. Replace the rest as cash and deliveries allow.

Writing damage off properly protects you in two ways. Your stock figures stay accurate, so your reorder reminders and profit reports mean something again. And you have a clear, dated record to show an insurer or a lender. If you hide damage by leaving ruined stock on the books, your numbers will be wrong for months. See where your stock goes for how to keep loss records.

• Before June: insurance checked, product list with costs saved off-site, supplies bought, roles agreed.
• At a watch: order storm items early, keep chilled stock lean, count stock, bank cash.
• At a warning: lift and wrap stock, move small valuables, secure windows, back up records, tell customers your plans.
• After: photograph, count, write off damaged stock as damaged, total the loss, restock the basics.

Shopkeepa keeps your product list, costs and stock as a ledger of movements, so a count before the storm gives you a clean baseline. After the storm, you remove damaged stock with the reason set to damaged, and your inventory value and reports update to match. It is built with unreliable connections in mind, but a storm can take out power and networks completely, so keep your paper backup and your off-site copies as well.

Shopkeepa is in development and open to early access shops. Learn how stock tracking records every movement.