Making Business Continuity simpler
Writing a Business Continuity Plan can often seem complex and daunting. If you are a small/medium enterprise following our Business Continuity brochure is an ideal way for you to put together your first business continuity plan. The plan produced will be a ‘lite’ version. You can then expand the plan to our ‘Pro’ version as your business grows.
Lets get ready business continuity brochure (pdf 1mb opens in new window)
The brochure is very easy to follow and introduces you to some of the key ideas of business continuity. Below are some of the main aspects to think about when putting a business continuity plan together.
What are your critical products and services?
If something unexpected happens to your business it has the potential to disrupt your workforce, workspace, technology, information, equipment and suppliers. You won’t have the resources needed to keep things running at a normal level so you will need to suspend some activities and focus on the ones that are absolutely critical to the survival of your business.
What are your plan B’s?
Businesses often have aspects which when taken away could seriously affect their day to day running and during a disruption possibly cause the business to fail. This could be something as simple as having only one person who knows where the key to the store cupboard is kept. By implementing some simple cost affective contingency measures you can mitigate the effects of a disruption and keep your business open, such as having a spare store cupboard key.
Crisis management
Crisis management is basically day to day management but at a faster tempo, larger scale and possibly an unusual hour. Taking time in advance to identify the people, documentation/equipment and location needed before a disruption will improve your business’s response to the disruption, making key decisions faster and easier to implement.
Be aware of the risks
There are a lot of events that could potentially disrupt the normal working of your business. You can find out more about the risks in the area by downloading the Humber Community Risk Register.
Humber Community Risk Register (pdf 210kb opens in new window)
Have you thought about insurance?
Insurance goes hand in hand with business continuity. It can provide essential cover in the event of something going wrong. The Association of British Insurers produces a booklet summarising the cover available and it’s a good idea to ask a broker for advice on what’s right for you.
Association of British Insurers (external website)
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