The benefits of Business Continuity for small business
Often those charged with developing organisational BCM speak of the difficult of engaging with 'management' and of a considerable amount of lip service being paid to both the scope and depth of BCM planning. The modern world of business is a rum old place these days.
A recent study by the Economic Research Council showed that for senior managers and business owners the concept of a 9 till 5 job is nothing but a distant memory, if it ever really existed at all. Success on the career ladder has meant long hours, often extensive travel either to get to and from the office or travelling to secure the next deal. Lunches are taken at desks and grabbing 20 minutes of quiet time during the hectic pace of the day is often seen as a luxury. The pressure to achieve is intense and it adds up to show an extended work schedule often adding well over 15 hours a week in 'extra' time spent working.
Amidst, this frantic pace Business Continuity has been struggling to command the executive attention really needed to develop effective planning and I can easily sympathise, but only to a certain extent, as often it takes a real crisis to rock people out of their inertia and really appreciate what Business Continuity Management is really all about. The headlines often use big disasters or terrorism such as 9/11 to show why BCM is vital for organisations and this is understandable to a degree, but I often feel that paints the wrong picture, disconnecting people from the real threats and consequently the benefits.
One of the lesser known facts about 9/11 is the unemployment it caused; in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the WTC over 250,000 were virtually immediately unemployed, without any warning at all. One minute the pay cheques were coming regular as clockwork, the next nothing and we are not just talking low pay grade roles here either. Many senior executives were also left wondering what they were going to do to meet the monthly payments. Ironically, often these were same people who had not been able to spare the time to make the plans that the organisations now desperately needed.
Now as I said earlier the big disasters tend to warp the view, but the lesson above translates to all serious disruption events one minute every thing is fine and the next your in the middle of a crisis that could change your whole life in a very personal way!
It doesn't really matter what causes the crisis, it can be a large or small scale event affecting thousands of organisations or just one. What matters is the ability to cope with it. Two thirds of new business ventures fail within the first 18 months and only around 10% of companies make it to their 5 year anniversary, business is risky and to succeed learning to manage commercial issues is vital, but year after year businesses that otherwise may be successful fail due to their failure to develop a robust BCM programme with all the problems that brings.
Our latest research shows that for smaller companies a serious event will drive them over the edge and some 50% of them will not see out the year. For them especially it's crazy to get through the business minefield and then leave it all to chance by not having a proper BCM programme in place. Think about all those hours worked, all that time at the office, on motorways, at airports or on trains; a few hours working on your Business Continuity Management process is the safety net to make sure that investment is not wasted. More than that BCM is a positive investment in the future of the organisation and ultimately yours too.
Our work at the Continuity Forum takes us around some of the best prepared organisations in world, companies that carefully calculate the returns on every penny spent and it should be noted that the biggest, most successful ones are most often those with the most developed and extensive plans in place. It is not coincidence in my opinion, but rather compelling proof of value.
Now many in smaller businesses may at this point say it's “all right for them, they have the money and resources to do it”, but that is rather a short sighted, even simplistic view. These corporate leaders don't do it for fun, they do it for money, pure and simple, yet their operational structures are far more complex and resource intensive. The truth is for smaller organisations BCM is actually far simpler and offers even greater returns especially for the owners and executives. With the large corporate there is, for most scenarios, a resilience that arises from diversity; the spread of income and resources reduces the likelihood of a catastrophic event wiping out the organisation. However, with smaller organisations the exposure is far greater due to an inherent and almost inevitable concentration of critical risk factors.
It need not be so though, with sensible management acting responsibly and creating a Business Continuity Management process, suitably structured and focused on the most serious risks facing the organisation. These risks can be reduced dramatically, very often averting the events from occurring and if they do enabling the business to cope very much better with the disruption caused. As a final thought let me ask you what you'd be thinking, in a few months or even a few years, if you were standing outside your burnt out or flooded office, will you be wondering what to do next or wishing you had heeded this warning, or will you be quietly thanking your lucky stars that you had the good sense to put plans in place to deal with the crisis in front of you. I certainly know which I'd prefer.
Russell Price Continuity Forum The Continuity Forum will be continuing our work promoting BCM to smaller companies both directly and through or public and private sector partners. For more details on these activities and the general activities of the Continuity Forum please contact us directly on +44 208 993 1599 or mail us HERE! Please do contact Sara Mckenna or Russell Price . END
