In business, it’s better to hope for the best, but plan for the worst, as the saying goes. That said, there are many types of crises and preparing for every possible eventuality may not be desirable or even possible. Making a plan for a once-in-a-lifetime situation isn’t a good use of resources, though. Here are just a few of the possible crises that could affect your business.
Natural disasters are something that all businesses should plan for. This should include a general disaster plan that can be used in the event of several different scenarios to handle both expected and unexpected disasters. All businesses probably don’t need a plan specific to an earthquake, for example. That said, having a disaster plan that can be used regardless of the type of natural disaster that has occurred is a good idea and will cover you if that once-in-a-lifetime natural disaster does occur. These types of plans focus on broader issues that can be addressed, such as physical and virtual infrastructure damage and loss of key utilities, instead of how to react to damage caused by a specific event.
You might also need a plan in the event that important employees or key personnel might not be available to you. Who these key personnel are will depend entirely on your particular business and how it runs. You should work out a plan that involves which functions must be performed and who can reasonably take over those functions if the person normally responsible for them is not able to work.
Depending on your business, you might also need a plan that can be implemented in the event that your supply chain is disrupted. You might need to have a plan in place to handle the sudden unavailability of certain vital supplies, for example. Supplies might be interrupted not by unavailability, but rather by logistics, that is, the ability to transport the materials to your business because of road outages, work stoppages, or the loss of your usual transporter.
It’s also important to remember that businesses grow and change and so, too, do their potential problems. Keeping your business continuity plan up to date is important. To learn more about a business continuity planner, you may the link. It isn’t just the potential problems that will have changed, of course, but also the potential solutions.
Planning for these and other crises is necessary, but can also seem overwhelming to those who aren’t familiar with the process. A company that offers business continuity and crisis management consulting can help you work out how best to proceed. For example, they can help you determine which crises to plan for, what those plans should entail, how to adapt your plans to other crisis scenarios, and how to use those plans.
Business Continuity Plans 