By CANUTE WASWA
In Summary
- A good business continuity plan will ensure that you minimise costs and reduce down time even during interruptions of any kind such as a power failure or IT system crashes.
- For larger disasters like an earthquakes, a solid business continuity plan could actually mean the difference between whether it recovers, or it is one of many that can’t recoup the losses and it goes under.
When floods hit Narok town last week, it claimed 15
lives, left eight people hospitalised and destroyed property valued at
millions of shillings.
Last year, heavy rains damaged property worth Sh500 million
with Narok Traders Association chairman Dr David Sankok calling for
construction of drainage lines to avert further damage in future.
A few days ago, a heavy downpour in Nairobi caused
flooding and traffic snarl ups on major roads within the city centre and
the suburbs.
My main thrust for this article is one sobering
fact; an estimated 25 per cent of small businesses never reopen after a
catastrophe.
The main problem is lack of planning. Emergencies
and disasters don’t discriminate. They can affect any business,
including yours.
The most common disasters that hit businesses hard
are earthquakes. But since these large disasters don’t occur regularly,
we become complacent.
I will borrow from how the management guru Steve Covey describes two words—urgent and important.
Urgent means that a task requires immediate
attention. These are the to-do’s that shout “Now!”. Urgent tasks put us
in a reactive mode, one marked by a defensive, negative, hurried, and
narrowly-focused mindset.
Handling the effects of flooding in Nairobi and Narok is urgent.
Important tasks are things that contribute to our long-term mission, values, and goals.
Sometimes, important tasks are also urgent, but
typically they’re not. When we focus on important activities we operate
in a responsive mode, which helps us remain calm, rational, and open to
new opportunities.
Proper town planning and discipline in following the said plans is important.
In that respect, having a business continuity plan is important.
A good business continuity plan will ensure that
you minimise costs and reduce down time even during interruptions of any
kind such as a power failure or IT system crashes.
For larger disasters like an earthquakes, a solid
business continuity plan could actually mean the difference between
whether it recovers, or it is one of many that can’t recoup the losses
and it goes under.
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