Type the search term “business continuity” tips into Google, and it’ll spit back thousands of articles at you. Business press all over the world has been warning about the risk of downtime for many years. 

What’s so interesting about the current virus-related crisis, though, is that we’re not just looking at one or two businesses facing issues with keeping the lights on. In essence, we’re talking about half the economy. 

For the most part, business continuity planning is all about making your firm more robust.

If there’s a good chance of flooding in your Florida offices, it makes sense to have a backup somewhere else in the country – say Idaho. 

But with the current problems, that’s no defense. When there’s a pandemic, it doesn’t matter where you locate your offices – the situation is the same everywhere. 

Companies, therefore, need to think about continuity in a different way. It is not about getting systems back online as fast as possible: it’s about “building a bridge to the future.”

How To Build A Bridge To The Future

Here are some ideas for how you can help your company get from where it is now to selling again in the future once the economy gets back to normal. 

Lock Down Your Finances

The first thing that you need to do is recognize that we’re going through a temporary blip. This situation won’t last forever.

Right now, there’s a slump in supply and demand, but that will pass, once the epidemic takes its course. Companies, therefore, should lock down their finances.

Firms need to keep themselves ticking over at a minimal level until the time comes to start back up again. Here, business continuity is more akin to hibernation that getting back on with work immediately. 

Back-Up Your Networks

We don’t know what’s going to happen in the weeks and months ahead.

Major services, like electricity, should continue, but there’s no guarantee that they will.

ClearFuze Networks, Inc. recommends, therefore, that companies back up all their data.

With so much uncertainty around the corner, firms must protect the assets that they have so that they benefit from them once demand ramps back up. 

Prepare Your Staff

Putting a business on hold for several months is only something that you do in the most extreme of circumstances.

Currently, that’s what we’re facing – an acute, hopefully, once-in-a-lifetime event. It is vital, therefore, that you prepare your staff for the inevitable changes that are coming. 

© New To HR