Continuity Planning - Top Tips for SMEs

Business Continuity Planning doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. There are many simple measures you can take to dramatically improve your organisation's resilience to disruption and ensure your business continues to thrive.

Here at Continuity Planning we've compiled our top five simple things you could do right now to ensure profitability and survival.

1. Data Backup

Backup your data regularly and ensure a copy is available off-site. This doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate - why not backup important files every night onto a rewritable CD or DVD and take it home with you? Other options might include simple online backup services that use your broadband connection to copy data to a remote location.

2. Alternate Site

Identify in advance somewhere you, and your staff, could work from if your normal office is unavailable. Why not work from home? Ensure you have a reliable broadband connection (and this could be an added benefit to your employees), a simple computer and copies of all your important files. Alternatively you could arrange for a partial share of a dedicated recovery facility which you could book for minimal cost.

3. Staff Contact Details

Create a list of all your staff, where they live and how to contact them. This will enable you to give them instructions on where to go and what to do, and will ensure you can continue to communicate if working from different locations. Make sure you have several methods to contact each member of staff (in case the mobile phone system is overloaded) and that your list is updated as you take on new staff. It is possible to implement automated systems to contact all your staff, but these can be expensive - why not take the opportunity to really get to know your employees and use the personal touch?

4. Client Contact Details

Create a list of all your clients (with their contact details) and take a copy back home with you. Be the first to let them know if there is a problem with your office, reassure them that service will continue as normal and gain credibility by describing all the prudent measures your company has taken to ensure continuity. Smile at the thought of your competitor's Rolodex burning in the corner of his office.

5. Plan

Create a simple plan outlining which aspects of your business you will focus on, how you will continue to deliver each service and which member of staff has what responsibility. Make sure your plan is distributed throughout the company, ensure your staff have read it then test it to check it works - ring up your staff one day, tell them you have invoked the continuity plan and then learn from all the valuable lessons it will teach you.