Credit Card Business Survey - A new survey from MasterCard International found shows more than 84% of U.S. small business owners are not worried about natural disasters affecting their business within the next 12 months, and 77% admit that their businesses are not fully prepared for any disasters.

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MasterCard conducted the survey in advance of National Small Business Week, which begins April 10. The theme for this year's U.S. Small Business Administration conference in Washington DC is the impact of natural disasters on small businesses.

When asked about their top concerns following a natural disaster, 25% of small business owners said that losing customers would be their top concern. 20% stated their concern was the loss of financial records. Nearly 80% of small business owners said that they do back up their business's financial records, including 52% who create CD or hard drive back-ups that they store off-site.

The survey; conducted by Harris Interactive, polled approximately 506 small business owners in the US.

MasterCard offers the following tips to help small business owners:

1. Keep important financial records organized and safe. Make backup copies of all critical files such as accounting and employee payroll data, as well as customer lists, and inventory and store these records in a safe off-site location. If your business's financial information is online, via your financial institution's web site, you can access your information and direct payments to your suppliers or other partners even when you may be away from your office.

2. Maintain up-to-date contact information for critical parties. Have customer and vendor phone numbers, addresses and email addresses handy so you can notify them promptly if your business has to suspend operation. Make copies of contact information for professional advisors as well, such as lawyers, banks, and credit card and insurance companies so that you know how to reach them in an emergency.

3. Empower employees to keep the business moving by providing them with business debit or credit cards to use when they make business-related purchases. If in an emergency or other situation you decide to allow employees to make non-business purchases with those cards, contact your issuing bank to give them more flexibility. You can advance employees cash, extend credit limits or loosen restrictions on the types of purchases the card will allow.

4. Make your business more agile by enabling employees to access email and other IT capabilities, such as shared hard drives from remote sites, so they can continue working even when they can't get to the office. Providing key employees with mobile phones, PDAs and handheld email devices will also allow them to stay in touch with customers and access company information from virtually anywhere.