60+ Sample Business Continuity Plans

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is an integral facet of any business. It is basically a strategic plan that highlights every process, instruction, and action that the organization must take in encountering risks and disasters. In other words, it is your ultimate backup plan when you need help on how to ensure your business survives over a long period of time, despite facing problems and shortcomings.

It has been reported that 75% of small businesses actually didn’t consider a disaster recovery plan.

What Should Your BCP Cover?

Every organization has different objectives and goals towards its business continuity plan. That is because there are varying factors in every business as well from the business size, type of organization, etc. But generally, a standard BCP would cover the following elements:

Risk Determination and Assessment: Ensure that you can determine the risks that affect your organization, and a risk assessment can efficiently help you there. That way, risks will be recognized, including how they would affect operations.Security Protocols: How can risks be lessened or prevented? This part is where safeguarding and security protocols are at play. Implement those processes that mitigate risks since they are the heart of your business continuity plan.Testing Procedures: It is wrong to simply implement random measures without actual testing. Testing is where you can conduct regular evaluations about which option worked excellently or not. Otherwise, you won’t be sure if a plan really worked in the first place.Up-to-Date Strategies: Most importantly, update the business continuity plan from time to time. Your BCP might be an effective process for now but with posing new threats at some point, your old plan might not work. Hence, create something new to adjust.

How to Make a Business Continuity Plan

Before you finalize every single strategy of what to include in your BCP, do you know how the business continuity plan is created in the first place? Not to worry, the process is super easy when you follow these steps:

Step 1: Recognize Your Organization’s Scope and Key Elements

First of all, you should be clear about your plan’s purpose, scope, business areas, critical functions, and more. The first step of making the BCP should have a strong foundation so finishing the rest of the plan runs along smoothly. Expect those who really know their business and related factors to ace this part.

Step 2: Conduct a Business Impact Analysis

Next, consider a business impact analysis. This analysis helps you know what factors cause a great impact on your business, whether such factors are bad or good. More so, you can study the dependencies among business areas and their functions. The same goes for your company’s strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities.

Step 3: Set a Plan for Maintaining Operations

Now for the meat of your BCP, state all your plans to maintain services and operations. The key is to organize your strategic plans instead of just writing in long paragraphs. You could categorize with a table, chart, checklist, diagram, and so much more. Go for the best approach where you can present details properly.

Step 4: Use a Sample Business Continuity Plan

The easiest step is to use the sample business continuity plans above. Those listed templates make it simpler for you to craft the BCP without working from scratch. Most of the important parts are provided for you so you only need to edit the format, design the plan, and add the finishing details. Rest assured, you can create as many plans as you like shortly.

FAQs

What is the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery?

Although both business continuity and disaster recovery are somehow related, they are quite different. Disaster recovery is concerned more with restoring operations and information technology infrastructure after a particular crisis. And disaster recovery is just one of the many plans involved in a business continuity plan, which is the bigger picture.

What are other examples of business continuity plans?

You can use the following set of BCP examples:

  • Crisis management plan
  • Crisis communications plan
  • IT disaster recovery plan

Why is business continuity planning important?

Business continuity planning is vital to stay competitive. As many businesses arise, the same goes for competition. So be sure you can manage your business by lasting long and remaining competitive with BCP.

A business continuity plan is your best basis for awareness and development. How sure are you that your business would last long? And if threats come up, how confident are you that your team can adjust accordingly? Hence, incorporate the BCP into your management plan to have a long-lasting business. Download now!