Crisis management and business continuity planning

Introduction

Crisis such as foot and mouth outbreaks, fire damage, illness of key staff or computer failure could make it logistically very difficult to carry on “business as usual”, especially for small businesses. With a little forethought, you can minimise the potential impact of a disaster – and sometimes prevent it from happening in the first place.

This guide helps you to identify potential risks, make preparations for emergencies and test how your business is likely to cope should the worst happen.

Why you need to plan for possible crises

The smaller your business, the more essential planning is – simple because small businesses often lack the resources to cope easily in a crisis. Failure to plan could therefore be a disaster. At best you risk losing customers while you’re getting your business back to normal, however, the worst is that your business may never fight back and may have to cease trading.

Your planning process should include:

• Identification of potential risks;
• How you intend to minimise the risks;
• How key individuals will react if a disaster occurs;
• Testing of the plan.

Simply, this means if you’re reliant on computer information, identify it as a risk, think about how to minimise the risk – i.e. it would be a good idea to install a back-up system so you have a copy of key data in the event of disaster. Lastly, back up frequently and check the backups.

Benefits of a business continuity plan

It sounds a little over the top right now, however, come disaster time, you’ll be glad you made a plan. A continuity plan will make coping in a crisis easier and enable you to minimise disruption to the business and its customers.

If you work with the plan and stay calm it will also prove to customers, insurers and investors that your business is tough enough to cope with anything – possibly giving you the edge over your competitors.

Crises that could affect your business

Depending on your location, line of work etc, here are some possibilities:

• Natural disasters;
• Theft or vandalism - vandalism of machinery or vehicles could not only be costly but also pose health and safety risks;
• Fire;
• Power cut;
• IT system failure - computer viruses, attacks by hackers or system failures could affect employees’ ability to work effectively;
• Restricted access to premises – how would your business function if you couldn’t access your workplace - for example, due to a gas leak?
• Loss or illness of key staff – if any of your staff is central to the running of your business, consider how you would cope if they were to leave or be incapacitated by illness;
• Outbreak of disease or infection;
• Terrorist attack - consider the risks to your employees and your business operations if there is a terrorist strike, either where your business is based or in locations to which you and your employees travel. Also consider whether an attack may have a longer-term effect on your particular market or sector;
• Crises affecting suppliers - how would you source alternative supplies?
• Crises affecting customers - will insurance or customer guarantees offset a client’s inability to take your goods or services?

Crises affecting your business’ reputation - how would you cope, for example, in the event of a product recall?

Related resources: Crisis management | Business terms and conditions

Subscribe To Site:

Full Post Feed | Summary Feed | Comments Feed