You will never receive an advanced notice that a disaster is almost striking. Even if your business has enough resources, there are things that could go wrong in tough times. Therefore, to stay afloat, it is vital that your small business has a continuity plan. This article shares five tips for creating a business continuity plan for your small business.
1. What Are The Objectives and Goals of Your Business Plan?
This is a plan that applies to the important functions of your small business, including operations, human resources, public relations, etc. Since each business is unique, you need to find out the key objectives and goals of your business so that you create a robust business continuity plan.
2. Have an Emergency Preparedness Team
In most cases, you will find that you already have the right individuals in the company. All you have to do is identify them and ensure that they are delegated some duties in the emergency preparedness team. These should be individuals with the right skills and experience to bring something to the table. The emergency team must be given a leader to keep everything flowing smoothly.
3. Conduct Business Impact Analysis and Risk Assessment
By doing this, you will know the most considerable potential risk your business might have to deal with. Once you identify the risks, you want to ensure that they are thoroughly analyzed. Together with the team, find out what would happen to the business if you eliminate some functions, modify them, or reduce them. There should be a clear record of all the issues identified during the process.
4. Identify the Important Ecommerce Functions of Your Business
It is vital that you find out how your small business will maintain essential functions or services amid the disaster. These should be related to supply continuity and inventory management, shipping deadlines and order fulfillment, maintenance of customer service, and the list go on. These are the key areas that are affected when a disaster strikes, and if you have a good plan to keep them stable – like having an on-site fuel service – there will be nothing to worry about.
5. Ensure the Business Function is Properly Addressed
No business function should be left out of the plan. While doing the review, you will learn that one or two business functions appear to be more important. By doing the review, you will know how to operate the business when any form of disruption occurs. Consider the business risk level, creation of emergency policy, and many other external and internal business factors.
Final Thoughts
If your small business has a continuity plan, in case a disaster occurs, it won’t have to be closed. The good thing is that most risks are not permanent, which means you can control them by doing the right thing. The emergency team should be constantly reminded of the importance of managing potential disasters and encouraged to develop better ways to handle an array of disruptions.
