It isnโt uncommon for a disruption to sideline your small business or force you to pivot. In fact, disruptions happen all the time. Whether it is staff turnover, a supply chain breakdown, or a cyber breach, how you handle it determines if this problem is just one bad day or a horrible, no-good week. Business continuity planning is about assessing the risks to your business and how you respond when they become a reality.
Business continuity plan goals
A business continuity plan (BCP) is your business’s go-to document that details what to do when a business disruption โ big or small โ hits. The goal of your BCP is to make sure that cash keeps flowing through the business, that your customers and staff stay safe and informed, and that your core services continue to run. With a BCP, you can determine:
- Maximum acceptable downtime: How long can critical businesses be down before it becomes a huge problem?
- Minimum trading level: What is the bare minimum that you can get away with to keep trading?
What does a business continuity plan look like?
A BCP can be broken down into four key components:
Assessment
What happened, how bad the damage is, and what part of the business needs to stay open or keep running to avoid even more disruption.
Preparedness
The safeguards in place to minimise disruption, backup plans when a disruption occurs, and the people in charge of dealing with it.
Response
Immediate actions to take when a disruption occurs, including how to maintain your operations and communicate with staff, customers, suppliers, insurers, and emergency services workers.
Recovery
Steps back to normal operations, and the changes put in place to either stop the disruption from happening again or reduce its impact for a speedier recovery.
Business Continuity Plan Example: Fire in the Workplace
Marty owns a cafe in the city, which operates from leased premises.
Assessment
A fire breaks out during service. Marty immediately sees a real risk to staff and customers. At this point, the fire is in the kitchen. The kitchen is critical to his business, but it is now unusable. There is no way to trade due to this disruption.
Preparedness
The premise has fire suppression systems in place (sprinklers) and fire extinguishers. Martyโs staff are trained in fire evacuation procedures and emergency contacts. Marty has business interruption insurance, as well as the contact details of his suppliers and building manager/landlord.
Response:
Marty immediately ceases trading, has his staff help evacuate customers, and contacts emergency services. Marty contacts his landlord, suppliers and insurer. Marty updates the cafeโs social media channels and installs signage around the premises.
Recovery
Marty moves the business to takeaway coffee and pre-made food only while the kitchen is treated for fire damage. To keep his staff working for him at his โminimumโ trading level, he mixes redeployment (preparing food offsite) with annual leave days for permanent staff. When the cafe reopens at full capacity, Marty reviews his fire action plan to improve response times and reduce the impact of a fire.
Your Business Continuity Plan Template
Not every business faces the same risks. Instead of tackling every problem, create a business continuity plan to handle the risks most relevant to you. Identify the key parts of your business, then what happens if they stop working. The key to a good business continuity plan is to make a framework that you can use flexibly for different scenarios.
For example, here is a sample BCP template.
Business Continuity Plan Template:
- Trigger: What is the disruption?
- Assessment: Operations affected, maximum acceptable downtime, minimum trading mode.
- First hour checklist: Safety (1), Stabilise (2), Communicate (3).
- Key Contacts: Who is involved? (Emergency services, supplier, bank, etc.)
- Comms: Customers (quick explainer), staff (internal messaging).
- Recovery: Steps back to normal.
- After-action plan: Add to risk management plan.
Note: Remember, this is for when a disruption happens. It doesnโt need to be perfect, it just needs to give you somewhere to start so a crisis doesnโt overwhelm you.
Business Continuity Plan in Action
Here are some BCP examples for common business disruptions.
Keeping you in business open during disruptions
Disruptions happen โ itโs a fact of life, especially in business. The key is to not let a crisis take over and get out of control. Business owners have a duty to their staff, customers, and themselves. A business continuity plan just gives you a safety net so that you can deal with an interruption and keep cash flowing.
You can start preparing your business to handle common crises and emergencies by:
- Identifying the top 5 disruptions common in your industry
- Creating a business continuity plan template that applies to each.
With a system in place, youโre one step closer to a stronger, more resilient small business.
