Pyramid Business Services is a Bookkeeping and IT services firm located in the Reno, NV area, and supporting clients nationwide. Our mission is to provide insight, information and resources to our clients so they can make the best decisions for their company’s success. We strive to be trusted advisors providing expert advice based on decades of experience in Bookkeeping and IT services.
In light of the challenging business environment brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, we are focusing on how we may help our clients weather this storm. So, we will be focusing this article on Business Continuity.
Business Continuity – What is it?
According to the Business Continuity Institute, business continuity is “the capability of the organization to continue delivery of products or services at acceptable, predefined levels following a disruptive incident.” Yes, that’s a mouthful. I prefer this definition:
“Business continuity is the practice of keeping the business in business.”
The current business environment has been incredibly impacted by the Covid-19 virus and may be impacted for the foreseeable future. Having a Business Continuity (BC) strategy, and a written and executable Business Continuity Plan (BCP), may well be the difference between the businesses that survive this disaster and those that don’t.
Okay, how do I get a BCP?
One way to create a business continuity plan is to perform a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and Risk Assessment (RA) to help create the strategy or strategies that will help the business stay in business, based on probable disaster scenarios. This assessment can be performed by the business owner(s), staff or by a business continuity consultant. Once the assessment is completed and the BC strategies outlined, then risk mitigation and recovery plans can be developed, tested, and incorporated, as part of the business’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Depending on the size and complexity of the business, this plan can be very simple or incredibly complex, and is beyond the scope of this article.
I am in the middle of a disaster, I do not have a BCP, so what can I do?
This question gets the traditional “It Depends” answer. It really does depend on the type of business and the disaster that is disrupting the business’ ability to stay in business. For the current Covid-19 disaster, the infrastructure we use for our business has not been impacted, just our ability to possibly come to the office or place of business to work and generate revenue. For this disaster, the following is a partial list of strategies to consider:
- Enable employees to work from home by sending home workstations/laptops and provide a secure way to transfer data to and from company servers. Additionally, employees could use a remote access application to remote into their office workstations from their home computers.
- Move all IT supported mission critical business processes, applications and data to the cloud so they can be securely accessed remotely. This does take some time and planning and would probably be best suited for an extended BC event.
- If your business depends on customers procuring products from your place of business, provide a way for them to order online or by phone and then pick up outside the building.
- Use social media to keep your customers/clients apprised of the status of your business, and how you are working to continue to provide the products and services they use.
One Final Thought
As a business owner, when things get difficult, and circumstances are beyond your control, your company’s life will most likely depend on what you do next. It is always a good idea to get outside input from other business owners, staff, or someone who’s counsel you trust to help clarify the problem(s) and develop a plan for surviving the current disaster, and the continued success of the business.
Please feel free to contact us for a consultation.
At Pyramid Business Services, LLC, we have over 38 years of IT experience, and over 45 years of combined bookkeeping/accounting experience.
