It is imperative that business owners and leaders plan for any unexpected or sudden circumstances should something happen to them or one of their employees. This is where a business continuity plan template comes in.
Without wanting to sound sombre, if a key player in your business was to die or be unable to work, what would happen to your business? What happens to the key tasks you or they perform?
How can you ensure any internal circumstances don’t affect your customers, stakeholders, profitability, and growth?
As a result, business continuity planning is so important, and we’ve put together this guide and template so you can approach your business continuity in the best way.
This guide covers the following:
A business continuity plan is an outlined process detailing all the business operations that must continue should an unexpected circumstance arise.
It should include which functions of the business are the highest priority and detail how, quite often, those functions will be maintained through written procedures.
Succession planning is also considered a branch of business continuity.
The ultimate objective of a business continuity plan is to achieve these three things in the event of something unexpected:
If you own a business or are a senior leader in one, you need a business continuity plan. Every business does.
Why don’t most businesses have a business continuity plan?
Quite often, it's because it never seems important enough. It is only when something happens that directors often realise the importance of one.
Just take the last few years as an example. The COVID pandemic caught all businesses off-guard, but those who survived and still thrived will most likely have had some sort of business continuity framework to follow to adapt and pivot their business around the ever-changing circumstances to staff availability, working patterns and supply chains.
It's scary that 50% of UK small businesses don’t have a business continuity plan.
Here are a few common objections from business leaders and the reasons why they can’t be justified:
A question: can you afford not to have a plan?
Most of the benefits of a business continuity plan probably go without saying, but here’s a reminder:
Without any further ado, let’s dive into our step-by-step guide for a business continuity plan. To accompany this, make sure to download our business continuity plan template document.
In a similar way to a SWOT analysis, when looking to evaluate the risks to your business, you need to make a note of the following:
Once you have identified the risks and threats, evaluate which are your highest priority threats.
You can do this by using two tools:
Both are available to use in our downloadable business continuity template.
Next is bringing together the plan.
This doesn’t just involve you; every department and business function needs to create an internal plan addressing their key processes so that there’s minimal disruption to the business if their department is affected.
Put together a business continuity team, which includes the key personnel from each department or function.
For each of your highest priority threats:
When it comes to the planning stage, there are loads of online resources available such as our guide on how to protect your business and through organisations like The Business Continuity Institute.
Plus, having an advisory board or a business coach with experience in this area will guide you to ensure you don’t miss any crucial elements of your business continuity plan.
Of course, your business will change and grow as time goes on. An important part of business growth is continually monitoring and reviewing your processes; business continuity is no exception.
Make sure to schedule regular reviews with your team, and if you recruit new staff, make business continuity planning part of their post-induction period. By reviewing the plan, you can identify any gaps or areas that could need further processing.
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We hope you’ve found this article useful, and don’t forget to check out our free business continuity template document. By creating an effective business continuity plan, you can sleep easily at night, knowing that your business will be safe if disaster strikes.