If you run your own business, hopefully you’ve heard of the term business continuity.  You may even have a business continuity plan in place. If you do, you can give yourself a massive pat on the back as you are in the minority. Recent research by the Federation of Small Businesses found that only a quarter of small businesses have any sort of semblance of a plan.

But what does business continuity mean and why is it important? And why is it an important part of your business strategy? Business continuity, as the name suggests, is all about how to keep a business up and running in the event of a disaster. A business continuity plan sets out the processes and procedures that will be undertaken if disaster strikes. A business continuity plan looks at the whole business and what needs to be done to get all areas functional again following a disaster. This can include factors such as where your employees would work from if something were to happen to your office premises, to how you would communicate this information to them, and how to get your administrative capability and customer service representatives back up and running and dealing with customer queries.

No business wants to have a period of downtime when they are not able to trade for some reason and it’s clear that getting your office and basic functions back up and running is a fundamental part of your ability to trade. But did you know that the speed with which you are able to get back up and running can determine your longer term chances of success?

80% of businesses that suffer a disaster don’t survive in the long term, largely due to the loss of income and damage to customer relationships resulting from a period of business closure. It stands to reason that the shorter the downtime, the less the impact on business revenue and the easier it is to make up these losses.

In our experience, those businesses that have a business continuity plan have a greater chance of surviving a disaster. This is because they have a clear set of priorities and are able to focus activities post-disaster on getting back to business. This means they are back on their feet faster, thus minimising losses.

This illustrates why a business continuity plan should be an integral part of any business’s overall strategy. It’s the key element of protecting a business, setting it on solid foundations so it’s possible to grow.

If you don’t have a business continuity plan in place, where do you start? Our advice is to keep these three key principles in mind:

Have someone in charge – ideally have a designated team or individual in charge of recording and updating the plans, this will ensure accountability and responsibility.

Carry out a risk assessment – this will help you identify the specific risks your business faces, your weak points and also identify the critical business functions required to continue running the business.

Test your plans – this will help identify any gaps and flaws that need fixing, as well as making sure key members of your team are aware of what to do in the event of a disaster.

If you’re not confident that you have the necessary skills to cope with a disaster within your business, then you might want to consider using a specialist disaster recovery provider, such as First Recovery. First Recovery specialise in supporting small businesses and SMEs and have comprehensive packages that are realistically priced for businesses like yours. If you’re concerned that your business would be exposed if disaster were to strike, why not get in touch to talk through your requirements?