Analyse your business risks
To start your business continuity plan, ask yourself the following questions:
Look at all your processes and procedures and identify the critical activities of your business; whether your business interruption is caused by bad weather or something more serious, you'll have to concentrate on the tasks and activities that must be done to keep your business trading. Consider which business processes would be impacted. For example:
Next, take one of three steps for each process:
Once you have a good idea of the risks that need to be addressed, plan the procedures needed to initiate your business resilience strategy.
Communications procedures: Who needs to be contacted and by whom? This applies to both internal (employees) and external stakeholders (customers or partners). This may mean reviewing your online communications platforms. If you have social media profiles or a website, consider:
This is key, as an untested plan may not work. At this stage, it's important that all internal stakeholders understand their role in the plan. Remember to update your plan regularly to account for changes in your business.
Calculating your business costs and adequately protecting for business interruption is key to making sure you don’t lose out should you cease trading for any reason. Overheads, payroll, leases, general running costs and all other outgoings your business has all need to be taken into account.
A standard business interruption policy is unlikely to cover all possibilities, so it's important to speak to an adviser and to read your policy documents carefully in order to understand what you are covered for.
Whether you’re a large business, SME or sole trader, work from home or have a property empire - Towergate have got an insurance policy for you. For more information, visit our dedicated business insurance page.
Date: August 20, 2021
Category: Small Business