We're all doomed!

In a recent survey over 75% of small businesses reported had no disaster recovery plan. After the 2005 Buncefield disaster, a number of businesses not on the site went bust as a direct result! Of Finance Directors interviewed, 30% reported that their business would be unlikely to survive a total loss of business data and paper documents! 38% said that it would take up to 12 months to recover and estimates of between ï¿¡50,000 and ï¿¡1m were put on the likely cost. (Source Linda S. Spedding, The Due diligence handbook) Most business owners were put off by the complexity of building a plan and relied instead on business continuity insurance. In most insurance policies, the small print usually requires a disaster recovery plan for which the Insurer will be happy to charge. A good continuity plan need only be a single A4 sheet of paper though! Essentially, asking the question "What will stop me/us trading?" is a good start point. The document needs to list the key people and points of reference and will be understood and easily accessed by everyone in the business. Most DR plans end up filed away under lock and key, pretty useless really! If this is a concern to you and you would like help and advice in building a simple plan then give me a call.