According to government statistics, more than a tenth of UK firms fail each year. Sometimes, cash flow issues are to blame, other times, they are unable to recover from an unexpected incident that completely devastates their operations. To stay in business, however, you’ll need a business continuity plan! Having a continuity plan is practically the same as having a backup plan. Even if you own a small business, knowing what to do in the event of a crisis is critical. You can keep your business going (or get back on track as quickly as possible) in the case of a disaster by identifying the risks and organizing your reaction. This article explains the importance of BCP. It will also outline the business continuity plan template and its example.
Let’s get the ball rolling…
Business Continuity Plan
A business continuity plan is a tool and procedure that allow your business to retain or swiftly restart functions in the event of a large disruption. Having a business continuity plan is practically the same as having a backup plan. When businesses are disrupted by harsh weather, a business continuity plan is commonly used. It is also useful for day-to-day issues like consumers not paying on time, a staff member being unwell, or a supplier failing to deliver.
Furthermore, in the event of a crisis, a business continuity plan should describe procedures and instructions for employees.
The plan includes things like:
- Business processes
- What to do with equipment and/or stock
- Roles and responsibilities
- Emergency contact details
- Back-up power arrangement
The main purpose of a business continuity plan is to enable business operations to continue in the event of a disaster by implementing appropriate strategies and recovery procedures.
What Are the Objectives of a Business Continuity Plan?
Let’s look at what a business can achieve through a business continuity plan.
Here are the top 6 objectives of a business continuity plan of a company:
#1. Evaluate Risks and Impact
It’s critical to identify the possible risks and how they might affect the business and daily operations. It is also crucial to identify the damage, recovery time, and cost of operational losses.
#2. Prepare a Company’s Disaster Recovery Team
It is crucial to train a recovery team and educate them on recovery methods so that when things start to go wrong, they’ll know what to do.
If a contract is broken and no IT specialist is available, it is essential for the recovery team to know where and how to access the business’s data.
However, to avoid any confusion, there must be a pattern for other employees and stakeholders to follow in the event that the IT team is unavailable.
#3. Identify Important Storage Locations
This plan should never be treated like any other document and hidden away, never to be viewed again. It is also a step-by-step plan for use during the recovery phase following a crisis.
#4. Ensure Strict Protocols
Include the step-by-step approach to be followed to recover from the damage in the plan. In the midst of the chaos of a crisis, even the recovery team may forget a few steps or points, which is why a clear step-by-step guide is essential to consult and move forward.
#5. Outline Preventive Measures
Strategies to prevent any potential risk or threat are included in the Business Continuity Plan because it will describe the existing technology, techniques, and protocols for preventing or mitigating the effects of a crisis or disaster.
#6. Report Weaknesses and Find Solutions
Examine the business continuity plan for any flaws or weaknesses and rectify them. Because it is a continuous process, the risk is continually changing and must be assessed on a frequent basis. Specific action activities should be planned and performed quickly when these risks have been identified.
Business Continuity Plan Checklist
- Introduction
- Key area checklists
- Contact lists
- Action and expenses log
This business continuity plan (BCP) checklist template is a basic blueprint that you can customize to fit your needs as a business. However, we recommend working with the Business Continuity Institute or other professional organizations like BusinessYield Consult when drafting your own business continuity plan.
Tips on How to Write a Business Continuity Plan
Here are some pointers and ideas to help you start thinking about your own business continuity plan and what it might look like.
The following are tips on how to write a good business continuity plan:
#1. Carry Out a Risk Assessment
You must do a detailed risk assessment before drafting your business continuity plan to identify areas where your business is more susceptible.
Here’s a quick risk assessment checklist with the most important factors to think about:
- Premises
- People (customers, employees, partners, suppliers)
- Stock and equipment.
- Operations and processes.
- Technology (IT, equipment)
When analyzing the risks, consider how likely each one is to occur, as well as a timeframe for finding a solution.
It may also take some time to investigate all of your business’s potential hazards, but it is a crucial component of the business plan that should not be disregarded.
#2. Roles and Responsibilities
If you have a larger business, you should include a list of key people and their contact information in your business continuity plan. If an emergency procedure is activated, you should also establish roles and clarify extra responsibilities.
Even if you’re a one-person shop with no staff, adding a list of critical contacts, such as utility companies and suppliers in your business plan might be helpful.
#3. Identify Critical Functions
It’s “business critical.” If it isn’t completed, it could cause the business to fail. You’ll need to document it and explain how you plan to reduce any danger.
#4. Communication and Emergency Response Checklist
Create an emergency response checklist that describes the steps your business should consider in the hours and days following an emergency.
A communication plan will be part of this, which will save you time and give you one less thing to worry about during a crisis. This could simply be a list of who needs to be informed, such as informing your customers if your order processing time will be delayed while you resolve a problem.
You might also prepare press releases, emails, and social media posts ahead of time.
Customers will appreciate you if you show empathy and communicate with them in a straightforward and timely manner. The difficulty is ensuring that the tone is appropriate.
#5. Test and Review
Finally, before putting your plan into practice, double-check that it works. If anything is unclear, test each stage of your plan, train your employees (if you have any), and develop and add to it.
While you hope you’ll never have to use this plan, it’s similar to business insurance in that it’s meant to protect your business. That is why it is critical to evaluate it on a regular basis to ensure that it is up-to-date and reliable in a crisis.
Business Continuity Plan Template
A Business Continuity Plan Template is a document used by business continuity managers and IT teams to define methods for keeping organizations operating in the case of disasters such as severe weather, building evacuations, and power outages, among other things. It works with assigned staff to identify high-impact operational locations, assets, and recovery plans.
However, there are other essential reasons to use a business plan template to produce a solid business plan, even if you don’t plan on pursuing investors immediately.
Business Continuity Plan Example
Below is an example of a business continuity plan template:
#1. Introduction
The business information and contact information, as well as the broad objectives for the business continuity plan, will be included in the introduction of your business continuity plan.
It could be something like this;
- Company Name
- Date
- Name of person responsible
- Phone/Email/Address
- Include details of secondary contact in case of sickness
#2. Objectives
The goal of a business continuity plan is to manage the recovery of crucial business operations in order to manage and support business recovery in case of an office disruption or crisis.
Any occurrence that leaves a business facility inoperable or useless, interfering with the organization’s ability to perform important business services, is classified as a crisis.
#3. Key Area Checklist
You should create a checklist for each area of risk you discover in your risk assessment to outline the correct solution.
To give you an idea of what to include, here’s a business continuity plan example checklist.
| Key area: (e.g. flooding, burglary) | |||||||
| Responsibility (Who is responsible for the disaster?) | |||||||
| Impact (How would this impact the organization?) | |||||||
| Likelihood (How likely is this disaster to impact the organization?) | |||||||
| Timescale (How quickly must this be resolved to avoid lasting damage?) | |||||||
| Resource | Action |
| Staff | List the number of employees and their titles. |
| Data | Procedure for data backup and recovery. |
| Premises | Options for relocating or working from home. |
| Communication | Contact methods for employees, suppliers, and customers. |
| Equipment | procedure for equipment recovery or replacement |
| Supplies/Stock | The procedure for replacing stock and critical supplies. |
#4. Contact Lists
It’s important to think about who you would need to contact in an emergency while making a list of contacts for your business continuity plan. Staff members, suppliers, customers, utility companies, local emergency services, and insurance and banking companies are mostly included in most continuity plans.
| Contact | What to include |
| Staff | Name / Job title / Work number / Personal number / Email / Address |
| Suppliers | Company name / What they provide / Phone / Email |
| Customers | Name / Brief description (e.g. what they buy, how much they spend) / Phone / Email |
| Utilities | Company name / Utility / Phone / Email |
| Local emergency services | Ambulance, Fire Service, Flood line, NHS Direct, Police |
| Insurance and finance | Company name / Service / Phone / Email |
#5. Action and Expenses Log
It’s a good idea to document what you’re doing when you’re dealing with an emergency and executing your business continuity plan. Moreover, It will not only assist you in determining what worked and what didn’t in your business continuity plan, but it will also give an indication of costs expended during a disaster or for any prospective compensation claims.
Here’s what your logbook might look like:
| Date/Time | Action | Actioned by | Authorized by | Costs |
Final Thoughts
Get familiar with an example of a business continuity plan to help you with writing yours. However, it is critical that you obtain professional advice from a reputable firm whenever your business is experiencing difficulties. You should contact BusinessYield Consult today. We’ve worked as consultants for different businesses, and we’ve been able to help with the difficulties they are facing with their businesses.
Our team recognizes that each scenario is unique, which is why we will take the time to learn everything we can about your company before offering what we believe is the best answer for you. You can trust that when you work with us, you’ll be dealing with someone looking out for your best interests.
FAQs
What is a business continuity plan UK?
The tools and procedures that allow businesses to retain or swiftly restart functions in the case of a large disruption are referred to as business continuity planning. Business continuity is similar to having a fallback option.
How does a business continuity plan look like?
The checklist, which covers supplies and equipment, the location of data backups and backup sites, where the plan is available and who should have it, and contact information for emergency responders, key individuals, and backup site providers, is a business continuity planning tool.
What is business continuity plan in information security?
The process of preparing for the unexpected is known as business continuity planning. However, a plan has been developed to respond to partial or complete disruptions in access to information and information technology caused by a variety of events such as natural disasters, accidents, equipment failure, or criminal activities.
