Why Do I Need a Business Continuity Plan?

Last summer in the UK, we saw vast area floods, local flash floods, and sewage are the toilets and drains to catch the people who had barricaded themselves in with sandbags. We saw all these terrible images on television affects households and businesses. Some of the events had put an indirect effect on business in employees either not work or back home in their homes.

We saw the epic battle an electricity sub-station to store in the vicinityTewkesbury, while we saw the tide overcome the sewage treatment plant in the same area leaving thousands of homes without drinking water for a few weeks. How to open a business without electricity?

This is the stuff of nightmares and needs to be taken on board when thinking about the survival of your business, you know that company that you waste your body and soul in this activity, the mortgage that will pay for you and your employees. Why is it that so many companies failafter a disaster like the recent floods. It is not just the floods, the massive explosion at the Buncefield fuel depot in December 2005 destroyed a number of independent companies, and caused structural damage to dozens of others. Do you have the ability to recover from just such an event?

They fail because little or no provision was made for business continuity planning (BCP), a shop look at BCP's who sometimes do grossly underestimate the worst case, the otherkeep a weekly back-up band with a neighboring business filed or stored in the apartment she will get through.

Unfortunately, too often this is not sufficient to establish a business again, insurance is essential, but may take too long and in the meantime, productivity / output has fallen, your customers can go elsewhere and your staff may have.

If you are involved in a disaster, which also extends to other companies find it very difficult to obtain services such as roofing toMasons, electricians, de-humidifier suppliers, etc., because all the others it is demanding. A properly made BCP are several options to help you addressed have thought, for example, subscribing to a drying and restoration as a priority service user helps enormously, as is, for example, establishing an agreement with the rest emergency accommodation premises manufacturer.

I must stress these are only examples, you are to think, you do not know what is appropriate until youReview your business, understand what you need to go on, to know how much cost of downtime and then working out what you can do about it.

So far I have explained current disasters to help you think about BCP. You need an open mind when talking about the BCP, always on all sorts of events and consider the implications. Try this one: it's 2.30pm on the day of the week in the afternoon, the fire alarm sounded, there is some smoke and you remove all doubt, it is raining and very cold.The fire department comes and the senior fire officers will advise that you do not re-enter you may spot for the rest of the week. Question – what do you do with all your employees, some of which no purses, wallets, car keys or outdoor wear with them? Think about it, as the employer you are responsible for your employees at work. Your BCP should report this situation if they do not then I suggest that it should be.

An investment in a BCP is important, and the communication that you have a goodmaintained and in place BCP exercise with your employees, customers, shareholders, accountants, and your banker will go a long way in building confidence in your company is, you can even sleep through the next storm.

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