How prepared are you for an emergency? Maybe it is the next Hurricane Sandy or a crashed hard drive; either can bring your business to a screeching halt. If a crisis happened to you, do you have a plan in place to keep your business running? The idea is to be prepared before an emergency occurs, not after it occurs. When you are in an emergency situation too many things are happening at one time to think everything through clearly. Decisions need to be made quickly.
What is a Continuity Plan?
A Business Continuity Plan is a plan that your business uses when any business interruption occurs. Examples would be anything ranging from a power outage to a major disaster that shuts a business down for a long period of time, a fire, or severe weather. The key is to have a plan in place before something occurs. Just like insurance, you hope you never need it, but you sure are glad you have it when you do. It is not a Disaster Plan which would come in to effect later. The Continuity Plan is designed to keep your business running while you are recovering.
Overview
Your Continuity Plan covers most basic information area that we all take for granted. Simple things like data backups, key employee contact information, transportation information, vendor information, and a communication plan. These are just some of the areas that you need to cover.
All this may sound overwhelming, but like any plan, taking each step one at a time can help in creating a working plan to get your business through an emergency.
We Are Here To Help
The Monmouth Ocean Small Business Development Center offers assistance for your business to create a Continuity Plan to help you stay in business while your business recovers from a crisis. Call us at (732) 842-8685 and schedule an appointment.
About the author: Paul Rinaldi, is a Marketing Consultant at the America’s Small Business Development Center New Jersey at Brookdale Community College (MOSBDC), as well as a Business Marketing Professor at Brookdale Community College.