In this week's Freedom Friday blog and email newsletter, we're continuing in the series on the Top Ten Topics in 2024, and this week we're going to cover another topic which was a highlight from last year.  This is not the juiciest topic, and I'm a bit surprised this one ended up in the Top Ten list, but this week we're going to talk about business continuity planning for your small business.  I know many of the Freedom Friday blog audience (and the email newsletter list who also receives this) operate very small businesses, some of which have no significant physical presence, but my law firm has many clients who do have brick and mortar facilities, or otherwise have a physical presence, and in a state which is not immune to natural disasters, its important to plan for continuity in your small business.  In this week's Freedom Friday blog and email newsletter, I'm talking about business continuity planning for your small business.

Any business, large or small, needs to develop a business continuity plan.  In today's Freedom Friday and email newsletter, I want to share three steps to develop a business continuity plan:

1.  Identify Key Personnel, Processes, and Services

The first step to develop a business continuity plan for your small business is to identify key personnel, processes, and services which are needed for your small business to maintain its minimal continued operation.  What must you do to keep the business running?  You also must determine which of your support services may be impacted and for how long.  You need to assess your supply lines to see if there are any gaps in getting essentials.  If you have staff or employees, you need to determine their availability during an emergency and maintain their contact information.  You also need to keep a list of contact information for outside entities which are critical to your operations, including your bank, your attorney, and your accountant or tax professional.

2.  Review Your Business Insurance Coverage

The second step to develop a business continuity plan for your small business is to review your business insurance coverage.  How much coverage do you have on your small business, if any, at all?  What are your deductibles, and will you be able to pay them?  What are the limits to your coverage?  If you need flood insurance, it usually has to be purchased separately from a general commercial insurance policy.  Do you have any eligibility for government aid and/or loans to assist your recovery, if needed?  Check with your insurance carrier, if you have one, to learn if you have adequate coverage for your small business, especially if you've made changes to the structure of your building or added new features.

3.  Back Up Your Data

The third step to develop a business continuity plan for your small business is to back up your data.  Whether you face a disaster or not, you need to back up your contact data, documentation, and data backups, either in an off-site location, or better yet “in the cloud”.  Your IT manager or web-based service vendor should back up your data regularly.  If your infrastructure is entirely “in the cloud,” which is extremely common, especially for online or remote small businesses, you need to understand how your cloud vendor handles emergencies and disasters on their end, and how your data will be kept safe and available at all times.

Thinking about starting a small business?  Or maybe your business is having issues with contracts, leases, business partners, collection issues, or experiencing other barriers to growth?  Please contact me at [email protected] to schedule a FREE strategy session.

For more information about Liberty Legal Solutions, LLC, please visit our website at http://www.libertylegalok.com/