One of the primary goals of the recovery phase of a disaster is to restore community functioning to its pre-disaster state as soon as possible. Critical to that goal is reestablishing regular business and commerce functions, which are critical to any community. While civic leaders have significant responsibility for supporting business recovery, so do business owners and operators.
This assignment requires you to look at business recovery planning from within an organization to evaluate its state of preparedness for disaster and recommend recovery plans for ensuring its post-disaster continuity.
Assume you are a small business owner who has recently opened your first location and you are ready to develop plans to protect your business and employees in a disaster situation.
Complete the following:
Research and determine your businesss legal obligations for disaster preparedness. You may need to investigate federal, state, and local community guidelines.
Determine the recommended process for business recovery planning using resources available from federal, state, and local agencies.
Determine financial and other resources available to support small businesses in their efforts to plan for disaster and to assist them during recovery.
Once you have completed your research, develop recommendations and procedures for a business recovery plan that accomplishes the following:
Identify your businesss legal obligations for disaster preparedness (such as insurance available in your state).
Create a preliminary business recovery plan that dictates how you will communicate with your employees, suspend or continue operations, and collaborate with civic emergency responders during a disaster. For example, how will you communicate with employees in the event of a disaster that interrupts the normal flow of communication? What process might you use to determine if your business should shut down for a period of time in the event of an emergency? How will employees know what to do during an emergency or disaster? Who will be the point person in your business responsible for communicating with emergency responders in the event of a disaster?
Identify what your business can do to ensure it returns to normal functioning as soon as possible after a disaster. Obviously, many things may be out of your control. Focus on what you can control. For example, if you live in an area where your insurance excludes flood coverage, what will be your alternative plan for recovering after a flood?
Identify the federal, state, and local resources that can potentially be used to ensure the use of the business recovery plan in the aftermath of a disaster.
Demonstrate how your plans align with local, state, and federal recommendations for business continuity planning. Cite specific guidelines within your plan.
