Hurricane season started on June 1. Now would be a good time to think about your business continuity plans and how well they will keep your company up and running through interruptions of any kind: natural disasters, power failures, IT system crashes, supply chain problems, loss of key employee(s), and more.
The SBA recently had a good article about preparing for hurricanes, by SBA Administrator Linda McMahon. The points that they make are applicable to disasters of all sorts. Read more here.
Disaster planning might include something as simple as saying that two partners in a company never fly on an airplane together, in the unlikely event that it crashes.
Similarly, if you are the sole owner of your business, how will your company function if you are involved in an automobile accident and are laid up in the hospital for a month or more?
There has been a lot of publicity about ransomware. I live in the Atlanta metro area. The city of Atlanta has taken over two months to recover from a ransomware attack. And, they have spent a ton of money in the process. Their experience pointed to a lack of preparation in a lot of departments. Is your IT infrastructure secure? Do you have good backups? Are they physically separated from your computer systems?
If this has gotten you thinking about how your business is prepared for disaster and you want to learn more, just Google “disaster recovery for business” and you will see lots of sites with lots of information.
For assistance in creating a disaster plan for your business, call us at 706-622-2006 or email [email protected]. The UGA SBDC provides no cost, confidential consulting for small businesses of Northwest Georgia. Check out our training programs here.
(Source: Matt Pearce, Consultant, UGA SBDC in Rome)