The ultimate guide to contingency planning for your startup

Recent months have shown us that it doesn’t matter how successful a business can be, things can take a dramatic turn within a matter of days. If you’re a business owner, then hopefully you haven’t had to face many struggles before and everything has gone as smoothly as possible; but this doesn’t mean good fortune and dedication will always work in your favour.

Unfortunately, sometimes problems can arise which are out of your control and it’s important to be prepared for them; which is why your business needs a contingency plan in place. Having a structured plan like this will act as a ‘plan B’ if an emergency was to happen, meaning your business can still operate or at worst, only have to close for a short amount of time.

To put this into a real-life scenario, your business may be faced with a heating system failure during the winter months, which could mean you need someone to come and have a look at the issue. You may experience more severe problems such as fire or water damage, meaning your business can no longer operate; but having a contingency plan in place can help make this process easier and get you back on track as soon as possible.

How to create a contingency plan

When it comes to creating a contingency plan for your business, it’s essential that it’s a thorough and detailed plan, which covers all bases in the event of an emergency. If you’re unsure of what goes into creating a plan, then Ideal Heat Solutions have created a guide which gives you all the important information you need to know. 

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Below are a few points which have been taken from the guide and will hopefully make you understand how you can implement them into your businesses contingency plan.

What are the potential risks to your business?

The main part of a contingency plan is to analyse all of the potential risks which could cause harm to your business. Whether it’s a small issue which may require an electrician, or a more severe problem which could mean your business has to close, each one needs to be listed.

Once you have created a list of risks, you then need to look at the probability of each one happening and what you’ll need to do if each one does occur.

Communicate, test and keep your plan updated

Once you have gone through each step and your plan has been created, the crucial part is to make sure it’s communicated with your colleagues. Communication really is key, as this will make sure the plan can be carried out efficiently and effectively if needed.

It’s also a good idea to put your plan to the test as well. Once all employees are aware of what’s required, you can then do a test run, which will allow you to see if any areas need to be improved or if all areas within the business have been covered.

Having a contingency plan in place for your business will protect it as much as possible in the event of any issues arising. Hopefully this post has given you a better insight into the areas which need to be included within a plan and why it’s important to have one in place from the beginning.

Photo credits: eOffice, Coworking London