Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

Last year, in response to the unprecedent (but growing in frequency) heat waves across Europe, restaurants across the continent were planning - with the support of local governments - measures to both stay in business and keep their staff safe for the upcoming years. You know...business continuity.

For the restaurants, that meant designing menus items that included food that didn't need to be cooked much. The kitchens would get substantially hotter than the outside thanks to stoves and ovens. This is like menu planning for emergencies like water main breaks -- what would you serve if you couldn't use water to wash produce, for example. How would you get around sanitation issues? Disposable plates. Take-out only. What if you lose power? A menu of non-perishable food items only. Does all this planning sound extra? Well, it wasn't for Waffle House: since the 1980s they've planned for loss of refrigeration and have had a menu made with only non-perishable items, which is why it is an indicator of how bad a storm is: if Waffle House is closed, that's bad!

I do want to point out a few differences with Europe and the US. First, air-conditioning is not as ubiquitous as it is in the US. Just this weekend in Asheville, NC, while this part of the country was experiencing a dangerous heatwave, a local restaurant posted on their social media they were changing their service hours until the heat broke: lunch only, closing at 2pm. The conditions were just too dangerous for the staff. But they were upgrading their ventilation system. That's an option for them. Air-conditioning is also a luxury. Even in the US, not every restaurant can afford a top-of-the-line HVAC system. Plus what happens when the power goes out? Technological fixes only work so long as the technology's power source is available.

The second difference is bigger and more impactful. Europe - and the rest of the world, frankly - are big believers in climate change. They accept science and facts that it's getting hotter for longer. Sooner, too. They have the full support and encouragement of the government to be proactive in addressing these issues.

When I attended the first ever ARISE-US conference last year, it was bewildering to see how much assistance was offered (AND ACCEPTED) by small businesses in other countries to do business continuity. Not something disguised as business continuity or a stretch to call it "business continuity". Actual business continuity. It is a hallmark of what ARISE does. It is part of the UN's Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. I pointed out that speaker after speaker had very well-intentioned ideas of how to make small businesses in the US more resilient, but they fall on deaf ears for the small businesses. They are "too busy". "Marketing is more important" (they've been brainwashed). They'll be "fine" without it. It's not worth the investment.

I blame the culture of our country for this.

I've said it many times: resilience isn't a luxury, it's a leadership strategy. Being proactive is time-consuming at first, but saves time (and money!!!) later. Plus it saves your business.