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Digg it UP - Do You Have a Business Continuity Plan?
With full time jobs becoming a thing of the past, more and more people are becoming entrepreneurs whether out of desire or necessity.It requires a whole different set of skills, and a different outlook than being an employee, but by knowing where you are strong and where you are lacking, you are empowered to seek help in the areas you need it before it “comes back to bite you”.1. Independence You can’t be an entrepreneur if you are constantly depending on someone else. You have to be willing to stand on your own two feet. In handwriting, Independence shows in three ways. Where the capital I, when used as the Personal Pronoun, is either just a straight stick, or a straight stick with a horizontal bar top and bottom. Independence thinking or independence of ideas, going your own way regardless, shows in very short stems on the lower case “t” or “d.” Self Reliant – this one speaks for itself. It shows in the underlining of your signature. If you don’t do that now – sta
Of course, these “what if” scenarios will be different for every business. It would be impossible for me to account for every possible manifestation in this article. Instead, I will discuss some of the more commonly overlooked things that can happen. It will be up to you to extrapolate from that discussion in order to identify potential fatal links within your own business environment, and develop appropriate contingency plans. I can only ask the questions.
INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
Is your business dependent on a single key person? Such a person could be the owner, product developer, web site manager and so on. In such a case, that person represents a single point of failure. What happens to your business if something happens to that person? For
The field of dentistry is growing by leaps and bounds. This is primarily due to the fact that dental care, like other medical care fields, is currently seeing a rise in the number of patients accessing treatment. The dental hygienist plays a key role in providing this treatment. A hygienist can now expect a good salary, has flexible working hours and is able to access numerous benefits. So what does a dental hygienist do and what kind of training do they need?Anyone, regardless of race, gender or ethnic background can become a dental hygienist. The education required includes a high school diploma, followed by at least two years of college education that blends clinical instruction and classroom studies. A dental hygienist can work in a number of environments, including dental offices, orthodontic offices, county health departments, and school districts.A dental hygienist provides true hands-on care for both adults and children as patients, and is one of the most important members of a dental office team. He o
The weather that Christmas season was bitterly cold, as is normal for that part of Virginia. The building maintenance staff turned off the heat in our 7-story building to save costs. Unfortunately, they neglected to turn off the water. I received a call Sunday afternoon informing me there was a serious problem. Apparently, a major water pipe had ruptured on the upper floor.
When I arrived at the building there were literally large sheets of ice emanating from all the windows and cascading down the sides of the building. Upon entering, I could see just how disastrous this ruptured pipe, unattended for several days, was going to be. The ceiling tiles on every floor had broken away and fallen into the work areas. All the desks, file cabinets, computer equipment, furniture and so on were covered in debris, ice and water.
We obviously had no choice but to turn the heat back on in order to melt the ice. As the ice melted it just further compounded the water problem. Most floors in the building had a foot or more of standing water. The water damage to file folders and documents, electronic equipment, furniture and everything else in the building was devastating.
It took many months to completely recover from what we later referred to simply as “the incident”. Many important insurance documents were permanently lost. Much of the computer equipment and other electronics were damaged beyond repair.
Unfortunately, the company had made no plans for such a disaster. There was no way to quickly move data processing requirements to a backup location. There was no offsite storage for the microfilm records used to back up the paper documents. Most of the microfilm, stored in metal canisters, survived. However, the majority of microfilm readers didn’t since electronics and water just don’t mix.
The company ultimately survived, but just by a thread. We were unable to process premium payments for weeks, and many people who were expecting insurance payments did not receive them in a timely manner. It was, to put it bluntly, a complete and total mess.
Business Continuity is one of those topics that just doesn’t receive the level of discussion it requires. Too many business owners completely ignore it altogether. That can be a fatal mistake, as it nearly was for the company I once worked for.
Business Continuity is all about planning for the unforeseen events that can occur. Many people also call it disaster planning or contingency planning. No one likes to think about such eventualities, but as the saying goes, “stuff happens”.
Developing a business continuity plan involves making a thorough review of your overall business structure and identifying potential weak links in that structure. Some of these weak links are internal to your business, while others are external. A good business continuity plan will examine the entire range of “what if” scenarios that could adversely affect your business, and then identify possible contingencies.
Every aspect of your business needs to be considered: ownership, product or raw material sources, sales mechanisms (web site, storefront, et cetera), distribution chains, customer support, accounting, financial reporting, and so on.
Of course, these “what if” scenarios will be different for every business. It would be impossible for me to account for every possible manifestation in this article. Instead, I will discuss some of the more commonly overlooked things that can happen. It will be up to you to extrapolate from that discussion in order to identify potential fatal links within your own business environment, and develop appropriate contingency plans. I can only ask the questions.
INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
Is your business dependent on a single key person? Such a person could be the owner, product developer, web site manager and so on. In such a case, that person represents a single point of failure. What happens to your business if something happens to that person? For
I used to think of starting and operating several trading and consulting businesses, but after realizing the aspects of internet businesses, my plans for generating tremendous income in future have changed. I believe every business-minded people will experience this paradigm shift once they come to know of the internet business wonders that makes brick and mortar type of businesses outdated.Starting an internet business doesn’t require much capital output compared to a typical brick and mortar business. Forget the costly commercial space rentals, furniture and employees that brick and mortar businesses require. A computer with an internet connection is all that’s needed as working capital for an internet business. Imagine the amount of money one can save just from that difference. Instead of operating the business at a four to five figures cost, some even six, why not reduce it to a two or three figure? The cost of operating an internet business would never exit three figures unless additional advertising expenses are
We obviously had no choice but to turn the heat back on in order to melt the ice. As the ice melted it just further compounded the water problem. Most floors in the building had a foot or more of standing water. The water damage to file folders and documents, electronic equipment, furniture and everything else in the building was devastating.
It took many months to completely recover from what we later referred to simply as “the incident”. Many important insurance documents were permanently lost. Much of the computer equipment and other electronics were damaged beyond repair.
Unfortunately, the company had made no plans for such a disaster. There was no way to quickly move data processing requirements to a backup location. There was no offsite storage for the microfilm records used to back up the paper documents. Most of the microfilm, stored in metal canisters, survived. However, the majority of microfilm readers didn’t since electronics and water just don’t mix.
The company ultimately survived, but just by a thread. We were unable to process premium payments for weeks, and many people who were expecting insurance payments did not receive them in a timely manner. It was, to put it bluntly, a complete and total mess.
Business Continuity is one of those topics that just doesn’t receive the level of discussion it requires. Too many business owners completely ignore it altogether. That can be a fatal mistake, as it nearly was for the company I once worked for.
Business Continuity is all about planning for the unforeseen events that can occur. Many people also call it disaster planning or contingency planning. No one likes to think about such eventualities, but as the saying goes, “stuff happens”.
Developing a business continuity plan involves making a thorough review of your overall business structure and identifying potential weak links in that structure. Some of these weak links are internal to your business, while others are external. A good business continuity plan will examine the entire range of “what if” scenarios that could adversely affect your business, and then identify possible contingencies.
Every aspect of your business needs to be considered: ownership, product or raw material sources, sales mechanisms (web site, storefront, et cetera), distribution chains, customer support, accounting, financial reporting, and so on.
Of course, these “what if” scenarios will be different for every business. It would be impossible for me to account for every possible manifestation in this article. Instead, I will discuss some of the more commonly overlooked things that can happen. It will be up to you to extrapolate from that discussion in order to identify potential fatal links within your own business environment, and develop appropriate contingency plans. I can only ask the questions.
INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
Is your business dependent on a single key person? Such a person could be the owner, product developer, web site manager and so on. In such a case, that person represents a single point of failure. What happens to your business if something happens to that person? For
This question resonated with me one day after I attended a lunch meeting at a restaurant in Westborough Massachusetts. To those readers un-familiar with the state, Westborough is a town located near the intersection of Interstates 90 and 495. It is a high tech hub housing regional offices for EMC Corporation, I.B.M, Danaher Motion, and other technology related firms.While having my burger, I saw a group of engineers from a local corporation walking out and I happened to overhear the conversation of a young man who was with the group. He was asking, “What’s up with outsourcing?” to some of his colleagues and presenting quite a worrisome argument on the matter. Other comments followed, but I was stuck on the man’s question. So that afternoon, I set out to answer it for myself.I began my investigation by first asking why I was going to get involved in this fact finding journey. The answer was obvious to me; I was an outsourced individual providing services to a company like the young man’s. As a private ind
Unfortunately, the company had made no plans for such a disaster. There was no way to quickly move data processing requirements to a backup location. There was no offsite storage for the microfilm records used to back up the paper documents. Most of the microfilm, stored in metal canisters, survived. However, the majority of microfilm readers didn’t since electronics and water just don’t mix.
The company ultimately survived, but just by a thread. We were unable to process premium payments for weeks, and many people who were expecting insurance payments did not receive them in a timely manner. It was, to put it bluntly, a complete and total mess.
Business Continuity is one of those topics that just doesn’t receive the level of discussion it requires. Too many business owners completely ignore it altogether. That can be a fatal mistake, as it nearly was for the company I once worked for.
Business Continuity is all about planning for the unforeseen events that can occur. Many people also call it disaster planning or contingency planning. No one likes to think about such eventualities, but as the saying goes, “stuff happens”.
Developing a business continuity plan involves making a thorough review of your overall business structure and identifying potential weak links in that structure. Some of these weak links are internal to your business, while others are external. A good business continuity plan will examine the entire range of “what if” scenarios that could adversely affect your business, and then identify possible contingencies.
Every aspect of your business needs to be considered: ownership, product or raw material sources, sales mechanisms (web site, storefront, et cetera), distribution chains, customer support, accounting, financial reporting, and so on.
Of course, these “what if” scenarios will be different for every business. It would be impossible for me to account for every possible manifestation in this article. Instead, I will discuss some of the more commonly overlooked things that can happen. It will be up to you to extrapolate from that discussion in order to identify potential fatal links within your own business environment, and develop appropriate contingency plans. I can only ask the questions.
INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
Is your business dependent on a single key person? Such a person could be the owner, product developer, web site manager and so on. In such a case, that person represents a single point of failure. What happens to your business if something happens to that person? For
You may think you’re in the software business, but that’s not all. You may think you’re in the retail business but there’s more to it than retailing. You may consider yourself to be in the manufacturing business, but you’re more than merely a manufacturer.No matter what business your business card or Web site says you’re engaged in, you’re really in three businesses: your primary business, the marketing business, and the people business.Every business in the world must sell what it is offering. When that happens, you’re in the marketing business. If you haven’t realized that before, you need to clearly understand this before your business can succeed. You’ve got to market what you sell to your employees, to your salespeople, to your distributors, and suppliers, and most importantly to your customers. All these people can help you move your business forward.It is important that you focus on your primary business to create quality, value and desirability. Instead of focusing on diversification and expansio
Business Continuity is all about planning for the unforeseen events that can occur. Many people also call it disaster planning or contingency planning. No one likes to think about such eventualities, but as the saying goes, “stuff happens”.
Developing a business continuity plan involves making a thorough review of your overall business structure and identifying potential weak links in that structure. Some of these weak links are internal to your business, while others are external. A good business continuity plan will examine the entire range of “what if” scenarios that could adversely affect your business, and then identify possible contingencies.
Every aspect of your business needs to be considered: ownership, product or raw material sources, sales mechanisms (web site, storefront, et cetera), distribution chains, customer support, accounting, financial reporting, and so on.
Of course, these “what if” scenarios will be different for every business. It would be impossible for me to account for every possible manifestation in this article. Instead, I will discuss some of the more commonly overlooked things that can happen. It will be up to you to extrapolate from that discussion in order to identify potential fatal links within your own business environment, and develop appropriate contingency plans. I can only ask the questions.
INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
Is your business dependent on a single key person? Such a person could be the owner, product developer, web site manager and so on. In such a case, that person represents a single point of failure. What happens to your business if something happens to that person? For
In my previous article entitled: Information and Analysis - Baldrige Assessment Case Studies for Category 4, I shared about common assessment findings of several companies being assessed by a group of trained and experienced assessors. In this article, I will provide similar findings but on Human Resource Focus of the Baldrige Criteria. It is provided in the form of case studies which include Criteria summary as described in year 2001 Baldrige Criteria, assessment findings in terms of Strengths and Area for Improvements.There are seven categories in the Baldrige Criteria. In this article, I will deal with the bold categories listed below:Leadership | Strategic Planning | Customer and Market Focus | Information and Analysis | Human Resource Focus | Process Management | Business ResultsCriteria Summary Category 5 - Human Resource Focus The Human Resource Focus Category examines how your organization motivates and enables employees to develop and utilize th
Of course, these “what if” scenarios will be different for every business. It would be impossible for me to account for every possible manifestation in this article. Instead, I will discuss some of the more commonly overlooked things that can happen. It will be up to you to extrapolate from that discussion in order to identify potential fatal links within your own business environment, and develop appropriate contingency plans. I can only ask the questions.
INTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
Is your business dependent on a single key person? Such a person could be the owner, product developer, web site manager and so on. In such a case, that person represents a single point of failure. What happens to your business if something happens to that person? For instance, if your product derives from the efforts of one person, do you have a way to mitigate the effect of that person no longer being available? Can you overcome such a fatal flaw?
Do you keep all your accounting, customer and financial records in a one place? Do you have backup records in an offsite location? What would happen to your business if there were a fire, flood, earthquake, or other circumstance that destroyed those records? Do you have a plan in place to recover from such an event? It amazes me the number of people who don’t back up their computer or paper records. If the hard drive on your computer failed, could you continue your operations?
Do you keep your inventory of products in a single location? What would happen if you experienced a fire or flood in that location? Would you have a way to quickly replenish your stock? Would you be able to continue to fulfill orders in a timely fashion? If the answer is no, you have yet another single point of failure.
In U.S. Gulf Coast area where my wife and I live, we are at the mercy of hurricanes each year. In the case of Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Katrina, we lost our power and phone service for nearly a week. If something like that happened to you, do your customers have a secondary way to contact you, or you to contact them? Do you provide your customers with a cell phone number where they can reach you? Is there some local facility (e.g., library, Internet caf?) where you could go to check your email?
EXTERNAL CONSIDERATIONS
If you purchase your product or raw materials from a wholesaler, is that company your one and only source? What happens to your business if that company has a fire, flood, or folds its tent? Do you have a secondary source you can quickly switch to? With the company I ran many years ago, I primarily used three distributors as the source for most of my products. But I also had arrangements with several others I could utilize if necessary. These companies had my Tax ID, reseller, and other information already on file. If I had to make a switch, that switch would have been virtually seamless from the perspective of my customers.
Are you dependent on a single carrier for your product delivery? What happens to your ability to deliver your product if members of that carrier go on strike? It happens. Just as with your suppliers, do you have a contingency plan for moving to a backup carrier if needed?
What about the company that hosts your web site? This is a critical consideration if your primary sales vehicle is via online means. What happens to your business if that hosting company has a fire or flood? Do they have a contingency plan in place to move operations to an offsite location? If they don’t, do you have a way to quickly move to another hosting service? What happens if they go out of business? Do you have backups of your own web site (including your shopping cart/order database) that you could move? Can you quickly move your site to another hosting service?
DUE DILEGENCE
As I said, this list is not meant to be all-inclusive. Much depends on your particular business operations. But you do need to consider the possibilities, and their potential adverse impact. Consider all the possibilities.
My recommendation would be to develop a document to define your plans and courses of action for business continuity. It doesn’t have to be complicated; three columns is all you
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