Business Contigency Planning
Business contingency planning means preparing for the worst-case scenario. When you make contingency plans, you consider how bad things could get--your office burns down, your restaurant floods, your street is closed off by earthquake damage--and how you're going to keep your business running. You may never need the plans you draw up, but if disaster strikes, they could be essential.
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Potential
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The first step is to make a realistic evaluation of what could go wrong, the Business Contingency Preparedness website states. Depending where you're based, you may have to deal with wildfire, earthquake, hurricane or city-closing blizzards. Identify potential disasters--if you live in North Dakota, hurricanes aren't an issue--and assess the probability of each. State agencies or federal bodies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency may be able to provide you with statistics: FEMA has maps that measure the flood risk for particular properties, for instance.
Effects
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Once you know the risks, ask yourself and your planning team what the impact on your business would be if they take place. Ask if it's possible your place of business could be destroyed, or whether you could function if the power were out for a week. Consider what happens if you or a key member of your staff is injured, evacuated or otherwise out of action, or if flooding destroys your office computers.
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Prevention
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The next step, the federal Ready website states, is to draft plans for surviving if the worst does happen: Your focus should be on the essential functions your business needs to survive. Among other things, you'll need a place to operate out of if your company goes down; a backup for key computer programs and data, and possibly an insurance plan that will cover your losses if you're forced to close for a while.
Considerations
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Your contingency plan should consider the role of your employees, suppliers and contractors, Ready advises. You'll need a plan for making payroll even if your human resources department is flooded. You'll need designated successors to make decisions if you're unable to; at least one of the successors should be someone based away from your headquarters. Develop business relationships with companies that can help you recover: Identify backup suppliers in case disaster shuts your main suppliers. Make standing arrangements with contractors to help rebuild your office and restore your computers as soon as possible.
Practice
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Don't assume that writing up a plan solves the problem, Business Contingency Preparedness states. Hold multiple practice drills and see how well you really cope when you implement the plan; if you discover problems, rewrite the plan and try again. Once you have a plan that works, make sure everyone in your company knows the plan and their role in it.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Flood debris image by Allen Stoner from Fotolia.com
