How to Create a Business Continuity Plan

Advice for Women Entrepreneurs

1. - Accept the potential threats and risks facing your company. -

The possibility of a disruption shutting down your business operations is scary to think about, but you should always be prepared and willing to accept that risks and threats can cause turmoil for your business. Once you can accept that unplanned for risks and threats can have devastating results on business operations, you can then make a plan that ensures that both your business’s assets and personnel are sufficiently protected.

• Make a list of possible risks and their impact upon your company. For example, the death of a key person will not typically result in closing the doors for a while, but can severely impact results, vendor relations and customer service.
• After identifying risks, sort them by impact and livelihood to prioritize your planning.

2. - Don’t confuse business continuity plans with disaster recovery plans. - Business Continuity Plans are sometimes referred to as Disaster Recovery Plans and the two have much in common. Disaster Recovery Plans should be oriented towards business recovery following a disaster, and mitigating the negative consequences of a disaster. In contrast, Business Continuity Plans focus on creating a plan of action that focuses on preventing the negative consequences of a disaster from occurring at all.

3. - Consider the potential threats/risks facing the company. - Business impact analysis plans consider the potential consequences to your business when the ability to function and process has been disrupted by a threat or risk. As a result, creating a BIA allows you to determine which issues, risks and threats that your business continuity plan needs to address. You should consider the possible effects a disruption to business operations could cause, such as:

• Lost income and sales
• Increased expenses
• Customer defection/dissatisfaction
• Tardiness in service delivery
• Regulatory fines
• Delay/inability to commence future business plans.

Source: WikiHow

Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.

Advice for Women Entrepreneurs.

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