Small Office, Home Office Information |
| Small Business Contingency Plans Being Prepared Can Save Your Business
One of the things that I have discovered since I have been writing for a living is the power of words. Words can have strange effects on people and they can even scare people. For example if I were to say that every small business should have contingency plans some of you would be comfortable with that. You would know what I was talking about and the word would not scare you at all. On the other hand there are others who would see those words and react quite differently. The very thought of having to prepare a contingency plan would make them feel uncomfortable and they would be worried. For them the word ‘contingency’ might convey a meaning something that is involved or something that will take a long time to put together. But if I were to say to them that their business needed some plans to deal with the unexpected they would be quite comfortable and be able to deal with the situation. But whatever word or phrase I used there is no escaping the plain fact; every small business needs to have plans in place to deal with any problems that may arise. The plan might be as simple as what to do if your car breaks down. That is obviously something that could be dealt with quite simply and there would be no need to commit it to writing. For other problems more involved plans need to be made. For example this website sits on a server in the United States and sometimes the server goes down. It stops working and it needs a technician to look it in the eye, swear at it a few times and give it a good thump. But getting the technician to do that is not all that simple. It requires a phone call or an email to be sent by us to the hosting company in the United States who looks after our server. So we have a contingency plan to deal with that situation. Whoever notices that it’s down (and there is more than just Toni and me who have access to it), or sees the email alert contacts Toni. She then calls or emails the host and they go and deal with the problem. Now that sounds simple too but part of the plan is a requirement for Toni to have the phone number or email address at her fingertips 24 hours a day. And the way that is done is ‘written’ into the plan. Obviously, putting these plans together takes a little bit of time and a little bit of thought. You need to stop and think about what can go wrong – and always prepare for the inevitable. Whatever is going to go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time, or 3am on a Sunday morning. When you have identified the things that can go wrong sort them into simple problems and the more difficult ones. Simple things such as what to do if the car breaks down need simple plans. There is no need to commit the plan to writing but there is a need to make sure those who need to know understand what they are to do if the car really does break down. More complex problems, such as our server going down, need more complex planning. People need to have contact numbers and they can even benefit from having a copy of the plan prepared for them in writing. Many years ago I had to draw up the evacuation plans for a very busy country Court House. The plan involved maps that showed evacuation routes, assembly points and gave everyone a clear outline of what their role would be if an evacuation were necessary. Most small businesses are never going to need anything as complex as that but some problems may require more complex solutions than calling the auto club and getting them to send out a mechanic. If the problem/solution is complex then be prepared to commit it to writing and make sure that everyone who has a part to play understands what he or she has to do. With luck,
you will never have to resort to implementing any of those contingency
plans but being prepared and responding quickly can sometimes mean the
difference between surviving the problem or watching your business collapse
around you.
30 Aug 2005 |
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