Whether a startup or a fully-fledged business making a profit, no company is safe from a potential disaster.
This topic has been highly evident in recent months, during what has been one of the most challenging periods for companies across the world.
For more reasons why investing in a disaster and recovery plan is critical for companies, here's why;
Probability Of A Disaster
Disasters arrive in all shapes and sizes, and they occur more than you might think. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, every year, 20% of businesses experience a disaster. Such as a flood, fire, or burglary. Moreover, 80% of those companies struggle to bounce back from a catastrophe and shut down after one year.
Which brings us to the first point of why disaster recovery plans are essential. It could happen to your business at any moment, take action to ensure that it doesn't, but also, make a plan to get your business back up and running if it does.
Cyber Attacks
The internet has changed business forever. We're heavily reliant on computers to store and send data. Yet, a lot of companies don't have any protective measures in place to prevent a cyberattack, never mind a plan to recover from one.
Small business owners tend to believe that hackers are only interested in bigger prizes from larger companies. When in fact, thieves of any kind, prefer an easier target. Small businesses are often easier to infiltrate because they don't invest in protective measures for their IT.
Of course, adequate anti-virus software and safeguarding measures organized by Managed IT services should be your first port of call. Once that step is complete, look at options to back up your data.
According to Capterra Study, 2018, 29% of businesses have no data backup. Make your business difficult for cybercrime to take advantage of, and destroyed by backing up files to an external hard drive or cloud service.
Human Error
Did you know, human error is one of the main reasons for a business losing data? That's right. Amongst the corruption of data from cybercriminals, innocent mistakes on and offline can cause significant disasters in the workplace.
Whether employees open a phishing email or a worker forgets to save valuable intel on a file. Staff training is paramount to prevent risks such as these unraveling. To help employees identify malicious content, and to use the internet safely. But, arrangements should also be in place in case a staff member slips through the net and makes a mistake.
A recovery plan might include an automated backup of files to a cloud system. As a result, if an employee deletes a document on their laptop by accident, they can still retrieve a copy from the cloud.
Cost of Downtime
If a disaster were to happen to your business today, such as a hurricane ruining the premises; how long do you think it would take for your business to begin operating again? With that in mind, how much will that downtime cost your business?
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From building your premises back up to what it was before the disaster, sourcing and purchasing new equipment, paying staff wages, and locating another place to work from if possible. The amount of money you shall lose, and time, not to mention customers, is terrible for business. A disaster recovery plan means it doesn't have to be that way.
Think of likely urgent scenarios (such as a burglary or fire) that could occur and shut down your business. Solutionize plans you can action in response. For instance, if there was a power outage, you could purchase an emergency backup generator just in case, to tie your business over. If there was a flood in the office, think of alternative locations you and your team could work until the office situation is rectified.
Your Well-being
Running and attempting to nurture and grow a business is stressful at the best of times. A manageable stream of challenges keeps you on your toes and in action mode. However, if not prepared for, disasters can cause too much stress for you to handle, potentially leading you to burn out.
With no recovery plan waiting in the wings to rescue the business, uncertainty, worry, and fear can affect your ability to cope with a situation that's damaging to your company's livelihood.
Creating a plan of action should a disaster occur not only prevents your business from falling to ruins, it's also there to protect you and support you through a difficult situation.