All businesses should have a contingency plan. Here’s why.
It’s hard to ignore the news these days and the events in the UK and London in particular have shown that situations can, and do, change without prior warning. From cataclysmic fires to terrorist attacks, cyber-attacks to the effects of extreme weather, every business should be questioning whether they have a plan in place – just in case.
Would your company know what to do?
Would you be able to continue trading if an incident was to impact your business somehow? Would your staff know what to do? These are the types of questions that you need to consider and build into a contingency plan for your business.
It’s common for small businesses to have most of the strategic and important information stored as ‘ideas’ or in the founder or a manager’s head. If something unexpected happens and they aren’t around, what will happen?
That’s why a contingency plan makes sense. Contingency planning brings peace of mind and a clarity of understanding to you and your team – and they’ll know what to do in your absence. Documenting these roles will crystallise it in the team’s mind and bring a greater awareness of responsibilities within the business. It will also help when it comes to absences through planned activity, such as holidays.
Identify the risks
Sit down and discuss the key risks that could affect your company. Focus on the risks that are more likely to occur.
The types of incidents that it’s advisable to plan against include the internet failing, the company being hacked or an incident that stops employees getting in to work in large numbers. Depending on the number of employees and their roles, this could be a real problem for many small businesses.
Document your findings
Create a physical guide for your business. You should include everything that someone would need to know to keep the business running. This should feature things like supplier details, how people should be paid and everything that should happen on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
In addition, spell out the roles and responsibilities of the senior management and any other key members of staff. Outline their daily and weekly tasks so that someone else could take these on if necessary.
Break down and document your marketing channels. If this is a website and social media, for example, then make sure you have the hosting information, access passwords and any outsourcing contacts they would need.
As well as being useful for unexpected problems these kinds of documents are useful for new employees. Don’t forget to keep some off your main site, in case those premises aren’t accessible.
Don’t forget to back up
Pretty much every business is dependent on the internet today. Having back-ups of company data is essential, as data breaches and cyber-attacks are the most likely forms of threat your company may face.
Copies of backed up data should be kept offsite so that your files are safe elsewhere should a virus hit. Storing files in the cloud will make sure they are always accessible.
Make sure every staff member understands the basics of the internet set up, including where the router is, how they should restart it, who they should contact if there are problems. Have this information storied in your offline handbook so that any member of staff can pick it up and work on sorting out the internet connection.
Create a crisis plan
Emergencies do happen and you should have a clear plan in place. This should include what employees should do in certain situations and key actions they should take.
Storing employee phone numbers and details of next of kin is vital. Work through the likely steps that would need to take place during a major incident. These will focus on communication, both with staff and customers, whether this is online or offline.
Run through and document the essentials you would need for the business to continue functioning at skeleton level. The chances are your company has people relying on you for either services, advice or products and you should do everything you can not to let them down.
