Create a Business Continuity Plan

People are your most important asset. They bring unique skills and knowledge, hold key relationships, and provide a high level of flexibility to your organisation. During a time of disruption, your staff could be the difference between success and failure.

• Discuss with staff what a potential disruption might mean for your organisation and any vulnerabilities or commitments that might impact their availability after a disruption.
• Encourage staff to take steps to be better prepared personally for an emergency.
  
  

  Earthquake Preparedness Guide (PDF, 1.4 MB)

  Print this out and get prepared now

• Consider storing items at work to support staff after a disruption (e.g. dried food, emergency water, an emergency toilet, BBQ, etc.).
• Practise your emergency evacuation plans with staff. Confirm staff contact details and next of kin contacts are up to date.

Your key products and/or services define the purpose of your business or organisation, or provide the majority of your income.

Key considerations:

• What is your business or organisation about?
• What are your products and/or services?
• Which of these are critical to maintaining essential contracts or customer relationships?
  

  Example: Core products/services for a café:
  - Priority 1: Coffee and drinks
  - Priority 2: Baked goods made off-site
  - Priority 3: Meals made on-site
  

•  What products and/or services could you stop delivering and still continue to function?

Which tasks in your business or organisation are vital to the delivery of the core products and/or services identified in Step 2?

Key considerations:

• What are the essential tasks for delivering your core products and/or services?
• Are there any tasks that require specialist skills, qualifications or licences?
• Do any tasks rely on a single person?
• Can others from inside or outside the business or organisation step in to complete these tasks?
• Are there any business processes that require authority – such as financial delegation?

Single points of failure

If you identify key personnel, equipment or supplies without alternatives, these are risks you need to address.

Consider cross training members of your team to provide backup for different roles.

What are the resources and supplies needed to create and deliver your core products and/or services identified in Step 2?

Key considerations:

• Who supplies your required resources?
• Are there alternative suppliers who can provide the same resources?
• Are there alternative products that could be substituted into your processes?
• Do any supplies take a long time to arrive?

Factors to consider when choosing your supplier 

• Raw Materials (e.g. sources, distance, vulnerability, alternatives)
• Manufacture (e.g. timeframes, vulnerability, alternatives)
• Transport (e.g. vulnerability, access issues, alternatives)
• Data (e.g. record keeping, receipts, invoicing)
• Procurement (e.g. different payment options)
• Communications (e.g. vulnerability, alternatives)
• Packaging (e.g. sources, vulnerability, alternatives
• Warehousing (e.g. minimum requirements, vulnerability, alternatives)
• Distributors (e.g. distance, vulnerability, alternatives

Ask your suppliers about their business continuity plans. This might help you to choose which supplier to use.

What tools, equipment and technologies are needed to deliver your core products and/or services identified in Step 2?

Key considerations:

• Do you rely on any specialist equipment? If so, is it easily replaced and how long could it take to get a replacement?
• Can you get replacement equipment from a local store, or borrow or hire from another source?
• Is there alternative equipment that can be used instead?

• Do you have an up-to-date list of alternative equipment options?

Who are your key customers or clients, and what are some options for getting your product or service to them?

Key considerations:

• Which customers/clients provide you with the majority of your income?
• Which customers/clients have a strong relationship with your business or organisation?
• Are they reliant on your product or service? Do they have other supply options?
• How can you maintain contact with them?
• What are some alternative payment options?

Keeping in contact with your customers/clients is extremely important.
Even if you can’t operate for a period of time, keeping customers or clients informed will help to maintain relationships.

Some disruptions may mean you cannot continue operations at your current premises. What would you need to consider if your business or organisation needed to move to another location, even just for a short time?

Key considerations:

• Is the location of your business or organisation critical? If so, why?
• Could you share premises alongside similar organisations?
• Could you work from home, or would a short-term lease be an option?
• How would you go about relocating your business or organisation if you needed to?
• Are relocation options accessible for people with disabilities?
• Do you have a contact list for your relocation options?

There are various forms of business insurance that will help improve the chances of your organisation’s survival in the event of a disruption.

Some types of insurance you may want to consider:

• Business interruption insurance
• Income protection insurance
• Contents insurance
• Life insurance.

Key considerations:

• Is your insurance policy tailored to your business or organisation’s needs?
• Do you have sufficient funds and insurance cover to either close temporarily or operate in a more limited capacity, if required?

We suggest you speak with your insurance company or broker to better understand what insurance cover is available and what applies to your needs. Make sure you review your insurance regularly, as your circumstances will change over time.

Who can step in to run your business or organisation and make key decisions in the place of the owner or manager?

Making decisions about delegating authority and taking action in advance will help prevent further disruption to your business.

Key considerations:

• Who can run the business in your absence?
• Who can make strategic decisions, order supplies, pay staff bills, update your website, access your intellectual property etc.?
• Is there an assistant manager, team leader or family member who could step in?
• Have a conversation with staff to make sure expectations are set.
• Who has access to the Sensitive Business Information Register?
• Seek legal advice – an individual might require a power of attorney to operate on your behalf.
• Ensure key people are aware of the plan and the process to follow.

Sensitive Business Information Register (PDF, 94 KB)

Download this template to keep a separate record of sensitive business information so that authorised people can run your business or organisation should you not be able to. See Step 9 for more details.

IMPORTANT: To use this PDF template, you need to save it to your computer first. Please use Adobe Reader to enter your details, as some other PDF readers will not allow you to save or print your information. Opening the PDF in your internet browser will also prevent you from saving the information.

What information do you need to back up and what processes do you have in place to ensure your records can’t be lost?

Key considerations:

• What type of information and records do you need to back up? This could include customer records, accounts, emails, contact lists, etc.
• Do you depend on paper records? How will your business or organisation continue if you lose access to your paper files?
• If your computer crashes, can you still access your data, including your business continuity plan, from somewhere else?
• Have you considered off-site back‑ups, such as online storage in the cloud, a portable hard drive that is taken home every day, or professional back-up services?
• How regularly do your records need to be backed up?
• Remember to include any login details and passwords in the Sensitive Business Information Register (see Step 9).

In Christchurch, many businesses kept their data backed up on a portable hard drive. Unfortunately, these were often left in the same building as the main computer and were inaccessible after the earthquake.

It is important that this plan is available to all critical staff, and is accessible in as many ways as possible. 

Save your business continuity plan in multiple locations that can be accessed in different ways.

• Save a copy on your computer.
• Print a hard copy and keep it in an appropriate, accessible location.
• Store a copy online. There is a range of free online storage services available. Common providers include Google Drive, iCloud, and DropBox, which can synchronise with the information held on your computer, so you always have an up-to-date copy accessible from any computer or smartphone with internet access.
• Determine which service best meets your needs. 
• Email a PDF of your plan to key staff members and encourage them to save it somewhere offline.
• Save a copy on your smartphone so you have an offline copy when you are out and about.

Congratulations! You should now have your business continuity plan.

It is important that everyone in the organisation understands the business continuity plan and their role during a disruption. The best way to ensure that your staff remember the plan is to practise it! This will also help you to identify how it can be improved.

Here are some suggested next steps:

• Schedule a date to practise your plan.
• Develop a scenario – for example, what steps would you take following an earthquake if key management staff were unable to get to work?
• Get feedback from your staff. What went well? What needs improvement? Make any necessary adjustments to your procedures, update the plan and set a date for the next session.
• Check you also have dates to regularly practise your emergency procedures, such as fire evacuation and earthquake response.
• Include updating your plan in your processes, such as when you take on a new employee or change supplier.