How to Create an Effective Business Continuity Plan
Many businesses this year have been affected by sudden closures or reduced business in COVID-19. Hurricanes, ransomware attacks and hacking, and other issues have added additional strains. The best preparation is a thorough business continuity plan.
Issues can come from internal or external sources, but the result is the same—it can put your business in jeopardy. Acting quickly is essential to respond to the situation before they become pronounced enough to impact your company.
Why You Need a Business Continuity Plan
Did you know that 20% of businesses go out of business within the first year? And only 50% make it to their fifth birthday? Issues that can derail a business include natural disasters, cybersecurity attacks, and market downturns.
If you have a business continuity plan, then you’re able to adapt to the problems that come your way. It’s a way to anticipate catastrophes and ensure that your business can continue even when an unexpected threat is posed.
Things to Keep in Mind with Your Continuity Plan
There are some tips that you’ll want to keep in mind when you’re putting together your plan.
First, remember that it has to be adaptable. While you’ll be able to highlight potential threats to your business, you won’t be able to predict exact situations, timing, or effects. As such, you should make it so that your response can be adapted to meet the specific requirements of the threat. It’s important to change the plan as your business develops, too.
Second, you should also strive to make it achievable. Ask if you will be able to initiate your response in the timeframe you’ve outlined, or if it’s too ambitious. Make sure to have a plan you can enact immediately, in addition to setting long-term goals to increase your response strategy.
Steps to Create a Plan for Your Business
Now that you know you want a plan for your business, how should you go about it?
Assemble a team. Have a team who will be responsible for handling threats. Make sure everyone involved in the plan understands exactly what their role is.
Develop continuity strategies. Think about how you’ll be able to continue your operations even with setbacks. Ensure that all your data is backed up so you have access to your most important information even if you’re offline.
Have a procedure. It’s important to have a system that allows team members to report and handle incidents. Set clear procedural steps so that no time is wasted in handling events.
Get a risk analysis. Invest in a risk analysis to identify your cybersecurity weaknesses. Get a professional assessment to uncover gaps in your current strategy.
Have detailed recovery strategies. Work with an IT company to ensure you know how to retrieve any information lost in a disaster. TheCompuLab offers IT support in Fort Lauderdale to help businesses have secure data backup and retrieval options.
By taking steps to create or update your business continuity plan today, you can be prepared to handle the catastrophes of tomorrow. Contact TheCompuLab today to get expert IT consultation for your Florida business.
