Business Continuity Planning in this Economic Cycle

Is business continuity planning something that you need to do during an economic downturn? Or is this a "nice to have" that can be put on the back-burner and looked at when the economy picks-up?

I am going to argue that now is the time you should be developing and implementing a full business continuity plan.

Many companies cut back on their marketing and spending during tough economic times. The same is true for those projects that they know they need to complete but they have always had other projects with a higher priority to take care of first. Business Continuity Planning is one of those projects. As many marketing people will tell you, during tough economic times, you should increase your marketing, not cut back. People still need to know you are in business. Companies still need to buy your services; they need to find you.

So why should you consider developing a Business Continuity Plan now?

I suggest you take a look at your supply chain. Do you have one or two main suppliers of your raw material? Do you have one or two customers that provide over 50% of your revenues? What would happen if any one of these companies went out of business? Could your business survive?

A Business Continuity Plan is not a program that can or should be deferred until the "time is right". The only right time is now to begin developing and implementing a plan.

Disasters happen at the worse possible time. They do not wait until you or your executives say that they can respond to the emergency or disaster event.

My advice is to start your planning now. When everyone else is experiencing problems, you will be able to know that you have thought through your business' primary activities and will know how to respond effectively and efficiently to any emergency event.