How Do I Create a Business Continuity Plan?

11/29/2021 (Permalink)

A business continuity plan helps you protect your employees and assets during a stressful time.

Planning for an emergency saves time and money. Having insurance to help cover expenses after a disaster is one step. Putting together a business continuity plan gives you an outline to follow to keep your business moving forward.

What You’ll Need

An emergency response plan for your business includes thinking about managing assets such as the following during a disaster:

• Employees
• Buildings, equipment, and furniture
• Computers, printers, phones, and other technology
• Inventory (raw materials, finished product, paper goods)
• Important paperwork and records
• Information about utilities, including phone numbers and account information
  
  

Ready.gov has tools to help you create a business continuity plan. You also may want to include your insurance policy number and the contact information for a disaster recovery company in Vinings, GA, in your worksheets.

How To Plan
Create a business impact analysis. Identify how your business would be affected by an emergency. Think about decreases in sales and income, increases in expenses, and loss of customers. You’ll get a better picture of which important processes need to keep going no matter what.
Since so many businesses depend on computers, it’s vital to plan for your business to be able to run offline. You’ll want to access your servers and software, so think about how you’ll recover information if you can’t reach your network.
Consider what will happen if you need to move your business or have your employees telecommute. If you’re in manufacturing, think about having access to equipment in a different location. Some companies make agreements with other organizations so they can support each other during a disaster.
Finally, put together a team to guide the emergency response plan during a disaster. Train your team on any procedures and have them practice to see if there are any issues with your strategy.
Catastrophes can strike at any moment. A business continuity plan helps you protect your employees and assets during a stressful time.