Would your business survive?

WOULD YOUR BUSINESS SURVIVE? No matter how well your business is doing, disasters can happen that could jeopardise its continuity. The question is, would your business survive... ...POWER OUTAGES? With the 'energy gap' looming on the horizon, the reliability of your power source could be at risk. Studies suggest UK businesses lose £2 billion a year due to downtime. Would you be able to continue trading and offer first-class customer support without access to your phone or computer system? ..FIRE? ..WEATHER ISSUES? Fires in your office or the surrounding area could have a devastating impact on the smooth running of your business - just ask the 370 firms evacuated due to an explosion at the Buncefield oil storage depot. Do you know how quickly your business can get back up and running after a fire? Britain's weather has been getting wetter and more extreme over the past few years, with insurance firms paying out over £1 billion in 2012 to victims of flooding. What contingencies do you have in place should a freak weather event hit your business? ..HARDWARE FAILURE? ...FRAUD, THEFT OR TERRORISM? In 2011, 47 per cent of all IT and service failures were the result of human error, with 29 per cent being the fault of server failure. Are you confident that your IT systems are stable enough to reduce the possibility of hardware failures, and are sufficiently backed up to return to normal quickly? All business are vulnerable to attacks from people both on the outside and within - in the first half of 2012, £374 million worth of fraud was committed by individuals against their employer. Do you have a contingency plan in place to lessen the impact of threats from fellow man? HOW DO YOU PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS' CONTINUITY? 1 STEP ONE | UNDERSTAND YOUR BUSINESS Identify the elements that are critical to your business' success: Who are your main customers? What is your infrastructure such as IT and transport? Who are your key staff and suppliers that are needed What are your most profitable products and services, and the processes needed to produce them? to fulfil vital tasks? STEP TWO | MEASURE THE RISK 2. Measure the risk posed to each key business element, highlighted above, by the five threats outlined. Consider: Likelihood Impact on business of failure Maximum period of failure The worst case that could be sustained scenario 3 STEP THREE I STRATEGY Now the risk assessment is complete, you need to consider how you will cope. Decide on your: IMMEDIATE RESPONSE Delegating normal duties of those in charge Evacuation procedure Support for most vulnerable First aid Movement of crowd to meeting point LONG-TERM RESPONSE Access to Move to documents and alternative facilities IT facilities Arrangements for order completion, financial transactions and production Procedures for re-introduction of standard operations STEP FOUR I 4. CONSTRUCT YOUR BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN Once all of the above tasks are completed, put your plan together and: PRACTISE! PRACTISE! PRACTISE!