Wintertime is magical and can often feel like a wonderland.  Picture yourself sipping hot cocoa, engaging in cozy fireside conversations, and witnessing the magical sight of glistening white snowfall.  However, let’s not forget the occasional ice storms, power outages, and tons of employee sick days.  The future may be uncertain but having a business continuity plan – BCP for short – ensures that unexpected events don’t slow you down because, in business, every minute counts – literally.  Small and medium-sized businesses can lose anywhere from $137 to $427 per minute during downtime, according to a 2020 IBM report.  Small as it may be, prolonged downtime is the ultimate undoing for many SMBs.

This month don’t forget to show your BCP some love.

What Is A Business Continuity Plan?

It’s exactly like it sounds – a strategy to keep your business continuously running in the case of an unplanned event like a natural disaster, cyberattack or human error.  A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) outlines processes and procedures your company will follow during a crisis.  It encompasses operations, assets, human resources, technology, and safety; in other words, it keeps necessary functions in your organization running until the disaster is handled.

Isn’t a disaster recovery plan the same thing?

Disaster recovery plans are specifically designed to concentrate on the restoration of your IT systems.  It’s a single, albeit critical, component of your BCP.  In the event of a winter storm causing an Internet outage, for example, a disaster recovery plan restores data access and any IT services you may have lost.

Why A BCP Is Important

Imagine if your office were to experience a major fire incident, flooding, tornado, or hurricane.  Have you considered the location and arrangements for your employees to continue their work?  Would they be able to handle customer calls effectively?  Where would your leadership team meet to make critical, time-sensitive decisions?  These questions are all part of preparing a BCP, which we covered specifically for hurricane preparedness in a previous post that you can find here.  In addition to providing a plan for restoring your IT systems, a BCP serves as a pragmatic framework for your entire company’s resiliency and financial sustainability.

Moreover, individuals seek assurance that you are composed.  Failing to act decisively or confidently in response to an emergency will result in losing the trust of your team and customers, and that’s incredibly hard to regain.

What Your BCP Needs

A few basic elements make up a solid BCP framework for every business, no matter your industry.

  1. Your company’s critical functions. What are the essential tasks in your business?  This could be a wide range of activities from order fulfillment to customer support.  Understanding what is critical to your company helps you prioritize during a disruptive emergency.  Evaluate the probability and consequences of these risks to understand what you are preparing for.
  2. Risk assessment. What kinds of emergencies have the potential to disrupt your business?  These could range from natural disasters, like floods or earthquakes, to cyberattacks or the sudden departure of a crucial employee.  However, it is important not to linger too long on this step because you can’t possibly think through every scenario – focus on recovery.
  3. Recovery strategies. Develop strategies to recover during a disruption for every essential function and process.  This might include alternative operational techniques, using different locations, implementing contingency plans, employing backup systems, and so forth.  It is recommended to avoid lengthy manuals and instead utilize flow charts and checklists to communicate plans to your team.
  4. Data backup and recovery. Ensure that all your critical company data is regularly backed up and can be restored quickly.  Choose off-site storage and cloud backups and establish protocols for data recovery.
  5. Communication plan. During a crisis, it is essential to consider how you will engage with your employees, customers, and stakeholders.  Who is responsible for conveying information and how is it done?  This includes contact lists, communication templates, and dissemination methods (e.g., email, social media, website updates).
  6. Alternative operations. If your main office isn’t functional or accessible, where will your team work?  Do you have relationships with alternate suppliers in case your primary ones become unavailable?
  7. Review schedule. Your business is expected to grow; therefore, your continuity plan must also adapt accordingly.  Create a schedule for conducting drills and update your plan regularly.  Also, distribute it to everyone who needs to know, so everyone knows their role during a crisis.

Is A BCP Right For Your Business?

Every single company, regardless of its size, is susceptible to a potential disaster.  Based on ConnectWise’s 2022 threat report, nearly two in three midsize businesses experienced a ransomware attack in the last 18 months.  One in five victims spent $250,000 or more to recover.  The chances of success are not in your favor when it comes to taking risks in business.

Remember, the primary objective of a BCP is to minimize disruption to your business and help you get back to normal operations as fast as possible.  Get with your team and review your BCP today.  If you don’t have one, take this as a reminder to complete it.