February 7, 2007
What Is The Purpose of a Business Continuity Plan?
Owners of small to medium size businesses tend to sit on the fence when it comes to evaluating business risk. Often because they consider the risk of loss to their business from a disaster as remote. If this applies to you and your bbusiness then I'll summarise the purpose of a business continuity and disaster recovery plan. A robust plan:
Should categorize systems and business functions into groups according to priority to the continuity of the business.
Outline responsibilities related to Business Continuity Planning.
Provide guidelines for ensuring the development, testing and maintenance of the BCP Plan and proces.
Provides evidence to reassure key stakeholders of the business’s ability to continue operations in the light of unforeseen circumstances.
Provide documentation and a process which meets the requirements of relevant legislation and standards relating to business continuity planning.
The above are just a few of the purposes of a business continuity and disaster recovery plan documented in the business continuity and disaster recovery tool kit and given away as free chapters.
If you're at all interested in develping a busines continuity plan get the free chapters to the business continuityand disaster recovery toolkit
Posted by David at 2:29 PM | TrackBack
September 9, 2005
Small Business Continuity And Disaster Recovery Is Key For Katrina Small Business owners
Politics and criticisms aside the most important challenge now facing Katrina surveyors is the rebuilding of lives and their livelihoods. Rebuilding will be two pronged; from the top down by both federal and state governments and from the bottom up by small businesses that are the majority employers. In the midst of despair and recriminations business must come slowly back to life. For that to happen the focus now should be on business continuity and disaster recovery. Bottom line - small businesses need fast access to small business disaster loan.
Small business owners like Julian Fayard who lost his home in the hurricane has a petrol station and grocery store in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He spent every waking hour since the hurricane to get his business up and running. Within minutes of opening his business customers were queuing for hundreds of meters. Julian Fayard is not alone, similar scenes are occurring throughout southern Mississippi.
Local radio stations deliver messages from employers asking staff to return to work and contractors are hiring labor to help with debris clearance and repairs.
Picking up the pieces after Katrina will be harder for small businesses without support from large corporations and assess to small business disaster recovery loan. Julian Fayard is lucky; economists from the US Congressional Office estimate that Katrina will wipe out 400,000 jobs. According to Mary Lynn Wilkerson, director of Louisiana Small Business Development centers, more than 110,000 small businesses in Louisiana have been destroyed. "Small businesses are uniquely vulnerable to disaster", says Donna R. Childs, co-author of Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery: A Small Business Guide.
Fallback On Contingency Plans, Insurance and Backed Up Records
Even companies that prepared their companies for disaster by developing contingency or disaster recovery and business continuity plans will find it hard to recover from Katrina. It will take time for insurance companies to pay out claims for physical damage and lost profits. Without backed up records as evidence to support their insurance claims small business owners will face delay in settlement.
Small Business Continuity - How To Small Business Owners Can Increase Their Chances Of Saving Their Business
As business owners come to survey your business they'll discover the full damage. Here are some tips on how to carry out an effective survey:
1. Take Photos
Carry a camera and take plenty of pictures as this will help in insurance claim or when applying for a Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan. Focus on what's been destroyed and damaged.
2. Contact People Who Can Help You Stay In Business
Your next step is to prepare a list of people to contact - People who can help you stay in business; employees, supplies and customers. Communicate the fact that you're trying to "pick up the pieces" and relaunch the business. This is critical as it sends the right signal that'll stop rumors spreading that your business has been wiped out by the disaster.
Make of list of people to call and prioritize it based on "greatest need". For example, suppliers who are about to make a big delivery, shipment in transit or big deadlines that are due should be high priority.
Contact competitors to enquire if they have excess space you can lease. Your competitors understand your situation and quite often they can help with other stuff, like computers and office furniture.
SBA Small Business Disaster Loan
The Federal Government has declare areas affected by the Katrina hurricane as disaster areas and this allow small businesses to apply to the SBA for Small business disaster loans if they don't have business insurance or where insurance coverage is not adequate to compensate for total loss.
To apply for a small business disaster loan business owners should first contact the local office of the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) who will direct them to the SBA.
David Davis
Small Business Resource
Posted by David at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)
