Planning For The Future: How A Business Continuity Plan Can Help Your Business
There are well over 800,000 small businesses in the state of New Jersey, and that number shows no signs of slowing down. Small businesses continue to be a huge boon to NJ’s economy, so fostering these businesses is extremely important. Many small businesses are owned and operated by families, which come with their own benefits as well as their own downsides. The largest concern, of course, is preserving the business for future generations, and the easiest solution for this problem is implementing a business continuity plan.
A business continuity plan is a strategy put in place to prevent and prepare for any unexpected disasters in a business. These can include natural disasters—think of the widespread power outages due to Hurricane Sandy—or personal ones—like the loss of a major figurehead at a business. The problem with disasters, of course, is their inherent unpredictability.
The business continuity plan attempts to circumvent these unpredictable events by setting up a variety of plans and responses to different disasters. In the case of natural disasters, it’s important to have your computer systems backed up on a server, preferably in a different location than your business’ building. This way, if the weather is too inclement for your employees to travel, they can work from home through their computers or laptops that are synced to your business’ server. This way, your business won’t lose out on whole days or weeks of work.
In the case of any personal accidents or loss, it is imperative that there be a plan in place for replacements, interims, and successors. Businesses can and often do fail when an integral leader is gone and there is no one to officially take over as the head of the company. Additionally, establishing a succession plan in place will also give a business the time to prepare and train the future successor so no one is left unprepared when the day comes.
Complimentary Business Continuity Assessment
Is your business adequately prepared if a crisis occurs? You can evaluate the preparedness of your business with a complimentary Business Continuity Assessment. The assessment, which is typically valued at $1,800, is offered to NJ manufacturers at no charge through NJMEP.