One of the biggest mistakes a business owner can make is abiding by the “it will never happen to me” rule in regards to disasters. Each year, thousands of natural disasters occur all over the country.
Acts of nature like wildfires or floods can lead to a business closing for long periods of time. The only way to prevent problems when dealing with disastrous situations is by creating a business continuity plan.
Studies show that nearly 82 percent of the businesses in the United States do not have the IT infrastructure in place to deal with a disastrous act of nature or network outage. Instead of leaving the functionality of your business to chance, now is the time to take continuity planning seriously.
The following are some of the things you should consider when creating a business continuity plan.
1. Work on Identifying the Potential Threats You Face
Before you can create a comprehensive business continuity plan, you need to adequately identify the potential threats your business faces. Having a plan for a variety of possible disasters can help you rebound in a hurry following one of these events. Some business owners only make continuity plans to deal with things like natural disasters, but there are many more disastrous situations to consider.
For instance, figuring out what you would do to keep your business functional in the event of an employee strike or cyber-attack is essential. Once you have a list of possible disaster situations, you need to map out all of their outcomes.
If you are unsure about how to map out these outcomes, working with professionals who are experienced in continuity planning is a must. Often times, these professionals will be able to look at these situations objectively and help you figure out how to create adequate plans for each one.
2. Constructing a Recovery Team is a Must
One of the most vital parts of a successful business continuity plan is creating a recovery team. If you want to keep your own staff freed up during a disaster, hiring a third-party to perform this job is easy. Before hiring a company to fill this role, you need to assess the amount of experience they have.
Not only can a third-party act as your recovery team, they can also help you hone and refine your existing continuity plan. Allowing professionals to get a look at this plan can help you out greatly. They will be able to look at your continuity plan objectively and provide you with guidance on how to improve and strengthen it.
3. Know What is At Stake Without a Continuity Plan
Driving home the importance of a continuity plan is easy if you actually assess what you stand to lose without one. Often times, businesses without a comprehensive continuity plan will lose a lot of money in the event of a disaster.
While some of this money can be recouped via a class action lawsuit, a business may still lose lots of customers in the process. You can learn more about disaster-related lawsuits with a bit of online research.
4. Prioritizing is Vital When Creating One of These Plans
When disaster strikes, you will have to limit the number of resources your team uses. When creating a business continuity plan, it is important to figure out what technology or systems you need up and going first. Having this list of priorities in hand in the event of a disaster can help you limit the amount of downtime your team experiences.
Instead of trying to take on this complicated process alone, you need to reach out to disaster recovery professionals. With their help, you can get a plan in place in a hurry.