Sooner or later, your business could find itself facing a crisis that could cost you valuable time, money, and information. The fact that hurricane season lasts until November 30 doesn’t help much either. Whether it’s a natural disaster, a security breach, or another crisis, your business should be ready to resume productivity quickly and avoid expensive downtime. That’s where a business recovery plan comes in.
A well-structured recovery plan is a crucial step to protecting your business from major damage following a disaster. Aside from initial concerns such as employee evacuation, your plan should consider information recovery, budget, and more. Here are a few critical steps to ensure a successful recovery plan and implementation.
A natural disaster or other massive problem could cripple your business. Get back on track quickly with a well thought out business recovery plan. Click To Tweet
Plan for a Move
Especially after a natural disaster such as a hurricane, your business will very likely have to move locations to keep operating. Make sure you know exactly where you’ll be going and when your employees will relocate. If possible, allow your employees to work from home temporarily. Planning for a temporary move will prevent you from having to shut down entirely following a severe incident.
Take Inventory and Plan for Backup
What software and office equipment do your employees absolutely need to properly do their jobs? What can wait a week or two? Make lists of both categories and ensure you can easily get your hands on any critical equipment to replace damages. This is particularly important if your office has to temporarily relocate. As your location moves, don’t forget the equipment you need to keep the workday productive.
Pro Tip: Not all of your employees will need to immediately resume work after a disaster. For instance, accounting or security managers should get back to work immediately, while telemarketing callers can probably wait.
Create a Budget
Let’s face it: disaster recovery is expensive. Fortunately, the less time you have to spend on emergency budget planning after a disaster, the sooner your insurance can start covering your expenses. Develop a budget ahead of time to cover any critical expenses immediately following your business’s temporary shutdown. Make sure you can cover critical people’s salaries, the costs of any new equipment, relocation expenses, etc. Your insurance company will appreciate your attention to detail.
Backup Your Information
Finally, your business can’t resume operations without your information and documentation. This is a particularly critical step if you deal with clients regularly. Backup every piece of important information in a secure location, such as the cloud. Investing in managed print services can also help with this since every document you send for printing is stored in a secure computer. In an emergency scenario, you’ll be immensely grateful for secure information backup.
Your New Disaster Recovery Plan
Your business recovery plan will be a valuable resource as you work to rebuild your business following a crisis. Obviously, you can’t cover every possible outcome ahead of time. But the more you can decide and plan ahead of time, the less you’ll find yourself spread too thin in an emergency situation.
Connect with us to learn more about emergency management and recovery for your small business.