Guest Post: Barbara Goldberg and #BCAW2013

It's March 18, 2013 and the beginning of #BCAW2013, or Business Continuity Awareness Week.  We reached out to productivity expert Barbara Goldberg of Back on Track Solutions to get her insights why this global event is so important for small businesses.

Why Your Small Business Should Make Business Continuity Planning a Priority

Small businesses are constantly being bombarded with a multitude of disruptions that can affect their bottom line. While some of these disruptions can be controlled, others are neither expected nor planned for. Having a business continuity plan in place ahead of time will help minimize the impact any disruption may have on a business.

A business continuity plan provides an outline of steps that a business needs to recover and restore business operations after a disruption, as well as what business functions are critical to ensure those operations can be done. It should also include precautionary steps a business can take to minimize the effects of a disruption prior to any occurring.

Unfortunately many businesses don’t have a business continuity plan in place. They are so busy dealing with what’s occurring right now that they don’t think about the what-ifs. It is easy to overlook making a plan while everything is running smoothly but it is too late to do any planning during and after a disruption. In the end, the decision whether or not to have a business continuity plan will have a major impact on whether or not the business will survive.

The size of the business needs to be taken out of the equation when it comes to deciding to create a business continuity plan. The smaller the business is the more important it is to have a plan in place. The smallest of disruptions can impact the smallest of businesses. These impacts can inevitably result in the closure of the business.

Deciding not to have a business continuity plan can be the most costly decision a business makes. Business downtime can result not only in lost revenue but in lost customers. Once a customer is lost it is very difficult to get them back. They will prefer to deal with a business that is able to weather adversity well. The small price that a business will invest in the creation of a plan outweighs the cost of not having one.

Do you know if your business is fully prepared to recover after even the most minimal of disruptions? Take the short operational preparedness assessment to see how prepared your business is. Looking for help in getting a business continuity or disaster recovery plan in place for your business? Contact Back On Track Solutions to see how we can help you get a plan in place designed specifically for your business.

A big thank you to Barbara Goldberg for this guest post!

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