Risk & Business Magazine Cal Legrow Spring 2017 | Page 30

Business Interruption Insurance Without A Business Continuity Plan Is A Problem Only Half Solved W CONTACT OUR SENIOR VP BILL DALTON TODAY TO DISCUSS BUSINESS INTERRUPTION INSURANCE [email protected] 709-778-2398 FIGURE 1 KEY STEPS HAT IS BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING? Business continuity planning is the process of identifying the parts of your company that are most vulnerable in order to create a plan to recover them if a business interruption occurs. A business interruption can be as benign as a short power outage or as severe as a hurricane. Your company’s business continuity plan, in conjunction with business interruption insurance, form your business continuity management (BCM) program. Businesses with strong BCM programs are more resilient in the face of emergencies and disasters. The process of creating the plan is in itself a beneficial exercise. (See Figure 1 for a timeline of key steps in any such plan.) The resulting plan, if implemented and maintained, can be the difference between recovering from a business interruption and going out of business. Implementation of your business continuity plan means more than simply exercising the plan during an emergency. It means integrating the plan into your company operations, training employees, and evaluating the plan. WHY IS BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING IMPORTANT? Proper business continuity planning 30 ensures that financial assistance will be available to help get a company back on its feet quickly following a business interruption. Did you know that one out of every four businesses impacted by a disaster never reopens its doors? And 30 percent of businesses that back up their data do so because of prior data losses? In fact, 93 percent of companies that experience a major data loss are out of business within five years. In the past year alone, nearly one in every five companies has reported experiencing a business interruption. Companies that are prepared to face all types of business interruption incidents, whether small or large, are more likely to stay in business. Small business owners and individuals who are self-employed are especially vulnerable to the loss of income that business interruptions can cause. To protect oneself from losses in the event of a forced shutdown, you must purchase adequate business interruption insurance and create a thorough business continuity plan. I would be happy to provide you with a complimentary toolkit which can help you begin the process of building a business continuity plan for your business. Just email me at bdalton@ callegrow.com and I will send you a toolkit at no cost to get you started. +