The current adverse weather is just one example of how continued disruption can impact a business, and potentially cause enough financial and reputational damage that the business might fail. Staff unable to get in, deliveries delayed, production cut, customers lost.
For many businesses, costs remain unchanged while production, sales, activity and invoicing are reduced, so the impact will be felt in the coming weeks and months. Having a plan to maximise the effective workings of the business without access to all the usual resources is a huge benefit.
Prolonged “Denial of Access” could be caused by no end of factors – a road closure, electricity failure, personal injury, local explosion, bad weather – and often the combination of minor risks which accumulate to cause an unforeseen issue.
The steps involved in creating a business continuity plan will help most businesses to make the best of these supposedly minor events – without invoking a recovery plan in full.
By creating a continuity plan, a business will review their activities within the context of considering what really needs to be done, who can do each task, and what is required to enable it to happen. An assessment of the key risks following clear guidelines will be a good starting point.
The snow is forcing smaller businesses to go through this process now, whilst also managing the crisis at the same time, which makes it doubly difficult. As everyone else is doing so as well. Many locations have fewer staff available, interrupted supply chains, loss of data, an increased demand to communicate with customers and suppliers.
By using the elements of a Continuity Plan, the vital data for people, processes and technology will be available to those who have planned ahead and accessible from any location.
Key recommendations are:
– Understand the vital processes which the business undertakes, and consider who is needed to ensure they can be delivered. Drop other activities.
– Assign the key activities to individual staff members and set times for them to be completed.
– Consider what resources these activities depend on – I.T, data, people, premises, machinery etc .
– Find alternative options to each activity and resource – working from home, alternative supply, increased stockholding, alternate communication methods.
– Challenge the alternatives with tests – if working from home – is it secure, is there bandwidth, is there capacity for many staff to work from home, is data available etc.
– Communicate to excess. Whilst focusing on our own issues, we forget that others depend on us. Make sure that good communications are in place using all possible means to keep in touch with customers, suppliers and recovery partners.
– Chase the cash. Many businesses use this collective inconvenience to delay payments to suppliers – make sure you maintain income through the Denial of Access period.
All these tips for handling the challenges of continuity are available in the unique continuity planning tool at www.bcp4me.co.uk or contact us for help at david.coverdale@CBD-e.com.
Bcp4me.co.uk is a web based continuity application which contains hundreds of preloaded actions, risk preventions and suggested activities in menu form, so an untrained user can build a plan in a couple of hours. It is simple, intuitive and available for under £200. Accountants can offer the system to their clients to support their understanding of the good management of each business.
David Coverdale has been involved in delivering systems to support continuity and risk management since 2003.
Bcp4me Blog 