Any business can experience a serious incident that prevents it from carrying out its business as normal. For example cyber-crime, power failures, floods, fire, major transport disruption, or even acts of terrorism.  It may not happen to you directly but it may be an occurrence your business becomes caught up in and affected by.

‘The Federation of Small Businesses and Climate Ready at the Environment Agency found that a third of businesses in the UK have no business continuity insurance and nearly 60% have no plans in place to deal with extreme weather – despite two thirds having been affected by snow, drought or floods in the last three years.’ Source: BITC.

For small businesses in particular the impact of a serious incident can be devastating. To help a business cope in an emergency it is advisable to prepare a continuity plan. A business continuity plan describes the practical steps your business needs to follow if a particular problem arises.

As FedEx rather bluntly  put it, ‘Do more than cross your fingers’!

Cyber-crime has been identified as a growing problem but help and advice is available for businesses. Check out the events programme at Denbighshire’s website HERE. Or contact the Superfast Broadband team at Business Wales. See their recent BLOG post on steps to help protect your assets.

However cyber-crime is just one example and businesses should prepare by having an overall business continuity plan in place. This makes a business better prepared to cope in a crisis, and should help speed up the recovery process making the businesses more resilient.

The Business in the Community website has practical advice and a series of hints and tips and ‘ten minute templates’ that are aimed at small and medium sized enterprises. Things such as keeping a list of emergency contacts and back-up copies of key information are a starting point. You can find more help and information HERE.

Business Wales can also provide advice on Business Continuity Planning and they can be contacted on 03000 6 03000 or visit the website http://www.businesswales.gov.uk/.