It isn’t nice to think about, but a business disaster can occur at any time. This could be due to man-made or natural causes; maybe your office will flood overnight, or maybe you will encounter a cyber-attack. Either way, this can have a huge effect on your business, but if you have a disaster plan in place already, you should be able to minimize overall damage to your business.
Here are a few tips to help you create a disaster recovery plan for your business.
Get The Right Insurance
It is possible to get disaster insurance for certain incidents (such as hurricane and flood coverage). It isn’t always necessary to get every single kind of coverage; for instance, you might live in an area where flooding hasn’t occurred for decades. Most cities and states however, are prone to at least one type of disaster, so it is worth getting coverage for the issue you are most likely to face.
This coverage will be very useful during a natural disaster; simply contact the insurance company and they will work with you to clear debris and restore your business to normal working order.
Analyze The Threats
It is also important to analyze the threats that could attack your business. Every business is different, so the threats you face may be different to the threats another business faces. Finally, it is important to make sure that your disaster plan is regularly updated. For instance, if you only have an online website, then you don’t need to worry about people breaking into your store. So, take the time to analyze the threats your business is likely to face, and then set up procedures to prevent these threats from happening.
Analyze Your Technology
It can also be useful to assess your technology safety precautions. Most businesses use technology on a daily basis; they use it on their website, they use it to market their business and they use it to store customer details. This is very useful but if the software is hacked, it can cause serious issues for both the business and the customers. So if you use software or apps to help your business, we strongly suggest using incident management software as a precaution.
Ensure Clear Communication Channels
Establishing clear communication channels with your employees will make it easier to get through the disaster recovery plan. After all, if there isn’t a clear communication channel it is likely that you will have to do everything alone. For instance, if the email system is down, you could use a Whatsapp group to stay in touch.
Regularly Update Your Disaster Plan
Finally, it is important to make sure that your disaster plan is regularly updated. The threats that face your business will constantly change and evolve, so it is likely that in a few years there will be new threats to take into consideration. This is especially true if you regularly install new technology and apps, so try to assess and update your disaster plan every time your business undergoes an internal change.
