Human nature tends to want to avoid unpleasant thoughts concerning potentially catastrophic events, which unfortunately leads to poor planning in certain times of need. A good example of this for a residential home owner is when the power goes out due to a sever storm.
Whenever this happens, most people are left literally in the dark wondering if the power will be out so long that they will be forced to throw out an entire refrigerator worth of food. Meanwhile, the kids are driving everybody more than just a little crazy because there’s no television and of course, none of their many devices are charged.
While all this is going on, your mind is left wondering why you never put that money into the whole house generator you have wanted to put in for years now because of times like this.
A Relatively Small Investment of Your Time and Resources Could Have Saved All This Grief
The business owner’s analogy to the whole house generator is a business continuity plan (BCP). Most business owners are hesitant to dedicate their time and energy for a plan they may never need or just don’t even want to think about. The problem is that even though you think you may never need it, the odds are seriously against this. The following are three not so absurd scenarios that illustrate why you need a carefully constructed, easily executed BCP in place immediately.
IT Security – Perhaps nothing can bring an organization to its knees quite like a simple little email with ill intent. Viruses, data breaches, and various other forms of malware can interrupt business operations like nothing else. You can have the most skilled IT people in the world on staff and it won’t make a bit of difference if just one unwitting employee opens an email that contains a damaging attachment.
Fire! – What happens if fire ravages throughout your business? If the fire is particularly uncontrollable, you may not only have servers and key pieces of equipment that are rendered inoperable and need replacement, but your entire staff may also not be able to return to work until the area is deemed habitable. Include emergency operation plans in your BCP to know just what to do if a fire threatens your viability as a thriving business.
Non-Peaceful Demonstrations – Occasionally throughout history certain events take place that lead to revolution. Although these events may seem rare or unlikely during peaceful times, one needs to look no further than the recent events in Baltimore and Missouri that shut down various businesses for several days due to public safety reasons. Maintain awareness of the possibilities for these issues and ensure your employees know exactly what to do in the event of civil unrest. Be prepared to invoke your BCP in this situation before it is too late.
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