Step 13: Preparing for Emergencies
Last updated on December 9, 2024
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Sometimes, emergency events can affect how your business operates. This may be a direct physical impact on your business, such as a wildfire or earthquake or an indirect one, such as supply chain issues. In these instances, having a prepared business continuity plan can make a difference in the short and long term success of your business.
Creating a business continuity plan cannot be done overnight. It is a detailed process that involves carefully thinking about all your business practices, suppliers, customers, staff, etc. The larger and more diverse your business, the more complex the planning will be. As a business just starting out, the task can be daunting. If you are familiar with project management, try approaching your business continuity plan this way. By setting clear goals, timelines, budgets, milestones, and deliverables, you should find the task much more manageable, and ultimately successful.
Having a business continuity plan in place is invaluable. It helps you minimize downtime, maintain customer trust, protect your reputation, and most importantly, keep your business running smoothly even during challenging times.
You may consider the following resources while developing your plan:
- Community Futures – Free Business Continuity Plan Tool The tool is free to use and will help businesses of any size identify possible hazards for their business, their core functions/assets, and what the impact would be if their business was disrupted. Using the tool businesses will develop their own personalized BCP which may be printed and shared with their workplace.
- Community Futures - Community Futures Business Continuity Workbook (May 2019) The Business Continuity Workbook was developed by Community Futures Thompson Country in response to the 2017 wildfires in BC. The workbook is intended to help businesses think about what kind of risks they face and what steps may be taken to help address these risks before they happen.
- Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) – Business Continuity Plan Template for Entrepreneurs The website includes an article on business continuity planning and several downloadable templates for each stage of the BCP process.
- Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Business Continuity Planning The website contains links to a downloadable business continuity and recovery planning guide, as well as a crisis communications planning guide, which businesses may download and populate.
- BCEDA - Economic Disaster Preparation This webpage contains links to various resources such as: 10_Steps_to_Prepare_your_Business_for_Evacuation_Final.pdf (bceda.ca),
- Prepared BC - Guide for Small Businesses This guide is a great starting point for businesses to protect their operations and employees by ensuring that the business is prepared to be up and running as soon as possible following any type or emergency or business interruption. The guide walks business through identifying risks, mitigating potential threats, planning, preparing the business, and practicing the plan. This guide can be used in conjunction with the fillable emergency plan for small businesses. 
- Prepared BC - Emergency Plan for Small Businesses This fillable resource is designed to help small business owners plan and prepare for emergencies that could interrupt operations. This template is a starting point and can be added to as needed. The guide includes fillable sections on critical business functions, communication procedures, essential records, and emergency contacts.
Business continuity plan - A blueprint that helps a company continue running smoothly during unexpected events or emergencies.