Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step toward ensuring the continuation of your firm should something happen to you (by creating an emergency – or interim – business continuity plan). But take a moment to ask yourself, “What happens to business operations if I die or become incapacitated?” or in today’s current environment, “What if I’m quarantined or stuck somewhere where I can’t work?” Having a written plan to facilitate the purchase, transition, or continuation of your business simply isn’t enough.
Why You Need a Continuity Vault
Instead of leaving things to chance, you must logistically make sure that the firm can smoothly transition or continue (from a daily operating perspective) should the unthinkable occur. Because if you don’t plan ahead, there won’t be time to create and implement a strategy. An unplanned situation involves numerous, powerful dynamics that require many people to work together to produce a positive outcome. Centralizing information about the right people and resources ahead of time is essential to mitigate negative consequences, and managing the situation properly allows for the maximum preservation of value.
How a Continuity Plan Works
Perhaps you’re familiar with the TV show “Wife Swap”. On the show, the wives from two families switch places for two weeks. During the first week, the incoming wife must run the household and do things the way the other wife does (during week two, she can run the household the way she chooses). To facilitate this, each wife sits down and writes a detailed “manual” so that the other wife can easily step in and fill her shoes.
Though it may seem silly, having the equivalent to a “wife swap manual” (or a continuity vault) for your firm will easily allow anyone to step in and manage the business… and not just if something happens to you, but to any of your key employees. The purpose of this planning is to allow an organization to return to its daily operations as quickly as possible after any triggering event.
A Continuity Plan Allows Business to Operate Effectively as Quickly as Possible
The plan protects resources, minimizes client inconvenience, and identifies key staff, assigning specific responsibilities in the context of recovering from an owner’s (or any key employee’s) absence. In fact, the process of creating a plan allows an organization to better understand its business, discover shortcomings, and find ways to improve. Furthermore, this initiative demonstrates to employees and clients that the organization protects their well-being, while displaying a sense of corporate professionalism.
And here’s the best news – Truelytics can help! We’ve taken the guesswork out of planning and can streamline the process for you with TrueContinuity. Our new module allows you to link everything to your existing Truelytics account and easily store everything you’ll need in a secure digital vault.
A Step-by-Step Process to Building Your Continuity Vault
So what exactly should go into your vault and, more importantly, where should you start? Over a series of articles, we’ll cover each component of the vault step-by-step so you can easily follow along and quickly build your vault with TrueContinuity. When broken down into bite-sized pieces, the process will be easy and efficient.
No one can predict the future or how events beyond your control may affect your business’ ability to continue to operate. Align your firm for success and start institutionalizing your operating processes today. We’re excited to accompany you on this journey.
