Emergency! Planning For Disaster In Business

There’s no end to the threats that business face these days.

From competition to cyber-crime and from a break in, to a company poaching your employees – there’s a lot to worry about if you’re a business owner. Even more so if you’re just starting out. Your start-up can face a lot of threats.

For example, is your business based in an area that is prone to flooding? Well – your store could be in for a very rough time if you do not take the proper precautions. You know a flood could happen, so why did you not fit flood guards? Why didn’t you ensure the building was sealed? What about fire? Fire is a huge threat to your business. Would you not drill your employees on the fire escape plan? Would you not fit alarm systems?

The above highlights two serious issues that might not apply to your business – but the plan needs to be the same. Whether it’s technology or environmental hazards, you need to plan if you know the threat is there. In the case of an emergency, you need to know what to do, and that means knowing what can go wrong with your technology in the workplace.

System failure? It could spell the end of your business.

A surge of sales that is far beyond the capabilities of your servers to handle is going to crash your servers. People won’t be able to access your online store right at the time when a lot of people want to. This is going to lose money, and people might just forget about you the next time around. It’s not just money, though, if your systems are taken down – you might be breaching service level agreements and even fail to comply with the law. Of course, you won’t even be able to smooth the growing list of angry customers, either.

Plan for this. If sales are growing, make the call and expand your server space. If you do shut down, speak to secure data recovery experts who can get your lost data back to you. Always have the plan ready to go, like you would if a fire were to break out.  

There’s a lot to lose if you won’t take care of the computer systems and software that are running your business.

A system failure is one thing, but a cyber attack is going to hurt your business. Data is key for cyber-criminals as not only can it give them valuable information, it can lead them on to future victims. Data is the number one goal. Install anti-viral software and ensure you’re always vigilant. Don’t take your system safety for granted, because when it is gone – or compromised, you’ll sorely regret it.

Whatever happens, the key as with all things business is to have a solid plan. You should be able to deal with anything that comes your way – no matter if it’s based in the real world – or the digital one.