The UK's been told to prepare for another storm, as Jonas makes its way over from the US.
Small and micro businesses in areas prone to flooding may need to shore up or prepare for the worst. But just what can you do when your business or home actually gets destroyed or damaged?
It happened to Adrian Ashton, based in Todmorden in the North of England. A month on, his family are still living with relatives and an initial survey of businesses affected in his area show that nearly half will take six months to get back trading again.
As Aston outlined in a LinkedIn blogpost, the community was fantastic at providing a supportive response. However, that support can only go so far. Who will help micro businesses who don't meet the criteria set for assistance, to get back their livelihoods after they've been devastated?
Ashton took part in MicroBizMattersDay on 8 January, where he spoke about a fund launched by Enterprise Rockers founders Tina Boden and Tony Robinson to help support micro businesses in a time of crisis.
The fund's currently a JustGiving page and is set for a hard launch in February. Money's being pledged by other micro businesses to help support those that may be affected by any kind of trauma and people can come forward to ask for assistance when required.
So far it's raised nearly £700 out of its £8,000 target.
'The Hit the Rocks fund is a national fund; it's micro businesses helping other micro businesses out. It's a mutual support fund for ourselves as a community. We can all chip in some money as we're able and then if we do hit the rocks, then we can go to it and say, 'I've had a catastrophe' and this fund can say, for example, 'we can't offer you a magic bullet but here's £500' which is enough to buy in some support,' Ashton explained.
In the future, there's potential for the fund to try to seek charitable status from the Charity Commission which may help generate more investment and support.
In addition, when pledging donations, micro businesses can choose what particular cause (such as the North of England floods) you want money to go to by leaving a note when donating.
While the fund is still 'embryonic', as Ashton notes, he says it will enable those hit by trauma to have an established infrastructure alongside local community support.
He works from home, but his house got flooded during the Christmas spate of bad weather.
This, for him, threw up the question of how others in a similar situation could rebuild their livelihoods back up after such an event, which led onto the Hit the Rocks fund.
HIs advice to those concerned about facing a similar situation is: 'Shore up as best you can,' as weather's very unpredictable and there's no guarantee either way whether a warning will change at the last second or not.
To find out more about the fund, check out its official JustGiving page.
Have you been affected by bad weather or floods? Comment below to share your story (make sure you're signed up or logged in!)
Small and micro businesses in areas prone to flooding may need to shore up or prepare for the worst. But just what can you do when your business or home actually gets destroyed or damaged?
It happened to Adrian Ashton, based in Todmorden in the North of England. A month on, his family are still living with relatives and an initial survey of businesses affected in his area show that nearly half will take six months to get back trading again.
As Aston outlined in a LinkedIn blogpost, the community was fantastic at providing a supportive response. However, that support can only go so far. Who will help micro businesses who don't meet the criteria set for assistance, to get back their livelihoods after they've been devastated?
Ashton took part in MicroBizMattersDay on 8 January, where he spoke about a fund launched by Enterprise Rockers founders Tina Boden and Tony Robinson to help support micro businesses in a time of crisis.
The fund's currently a JustGiving page and is set for a hard launch in February. Money's being pledged by other micro businesses to help support those that may be affected by any kind of trauma and people can come forward to ask for assistance when required.
So far it's raised nearly £700 out of its £8,000 target.
A safety net
Ashton spoke to UK Business Forums about his experience and about the Hit the Rocks fund, which he calls a 'safety net' for micro businesses.'The Hit the Rocks fund is a national fund; it's micro businesses helping other micro businesses out. It's a mutual support fund for ourselves as a community. We can all chip in some money as we're able and then if we do hit the rocks, then we can go to it and say, 'I've had a catastrophe' and this fund can say, for example, 'we can't offer you a magic bullet but here's £500' which is enough to buy in some support,' Ashton explained.
In the future, there's potential for the fund to try to seek charitable status from the Charity Commission which may help generate more investment and support.
In addition, when pledging donations, micro businesses can choose what particular cause (such as the North of England floods) you want money to go to by leaving a note when donating.
While the fund is still 'embryonic', as Ashton notes, he says it will enable those hit by trauma to have an established infrastructure alongside local community support.
Ashton's story
Ashton runs his own business providing advice, consultancy and training to a number of bodies including social enterprises and charities.He works from home, but his house got flooded during the Christmas spate of bad weather.
This, for him, threw up the question of how others in a similar situation could rebuild their livelihoods back up after such an event, which led onto the Hit the Rocks fund.
HIs advice to those concerned about facing a similar situation is: 'Shore up as best you can,' as weather's very unpredictable and there's no guarantee either way whether a warning will change at the last second or not.
To find out more about the fund, check out its official JustGiving page.
Have you been affected by bad weather or floods? Comment below to share your story (make sure you're signed up or logged in!)
