COVID-19 Small Business Continuity and Recovery Planning

The chaos and the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been damaging for small businesses across the world. While many of them adopted technology to shift their operations online, others that were dependent on physical contact with customers were left behind. The Australian government took several steps to help these small entities recover, and many of them managed to stay afloat with adequate planning and management. Thus, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking for businesses for sale in Australia, you must be aware of the COVID-19 small business continuity and recovery planning.

Continuity planning is the need of the hour as it helps small ventures to become sustainable through tough times. Every small and medium-sized entity has to make changes in the organisational setup to make it resilient and ready for similar challenges. So here is how companies can deal with a testing situation with the business continuity and recovery planning.

What Is A COVID-19 Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is a roadmap for the entity to continue its operations during unprecedented situations that cause massive upheavals. Some people tend to confuse it with contingency planning. However, it is more elaborate and contains details about managing the employees, clients, suppliers, vendors, investors, debts, finances, assets, and business processes during a crisis.

It has information about emergency responders like IT technicians and cybersecurity teams, data that needs to be safeguarded, backup files, and strategies to continue the operations during a short-lived downtime or a longer outage. With the help of a business continuity plan, SMEs can withstand destructive economic conditions and recover from the impact as soon as possible. It also helps in keeping the financial loss to a minimum so that the business is able to survive.

How To Build a Business Continuity Plan?

The purpose of the plan is to create a flow of events that help in rebuilding the business processes. Here is a list of its most crucial features that are divided into three parts.

1. Continuity Plan

• It must contain a backup plan for continuing the production of the most rewarding and successful products and services of the company in case the current supply chain is affected.
• A list of all the loyal and long-term customers who must be informed about the crisis.
• Information about insurance policies that can be utilised in case of financial risk.
• Identify the remote working arrangements that can be leveraged during the pandemic and the plan should include information about such communication tools, project management software, skill development programs, cross-training etc.
• Information about IT hardware and software that will help with automation to reduce dependency on manual labour in case of a shutdown.
• Business transition strategy if the physical operations have to be shifted online during a lockdown. It must-have details on maintaining a virtual office setup, utilising an e-commerce website for selling products and digital marketing strategy.

2. Emergency Action Plan

• The first step of the emergency action plan is to contact all the emergency services and staff members to take care of the situation.
• The next step is to build a team that is responsible for getting things into action during an emergency situation.

3. The Recovery Plan

• Recovery begins with the evaluation of the extent of loss to the business and how the situation can be salvaged. The threats need to be identified, and ways to get rid of them have to be determined.
• The next step is to assign the resolution of problems to responsible team members and have their list handy.
• Assess the economic conditions and the changes in consumer buying behaviour.
• Prepare a marketing strategy to communicate with your target audience after the business recovers and the ways of promoting products and services. Digital marketing is the most preferred and cost-effective way of reaching prospective buyers during the pandemic. Thus, it must be utilised efficiently.

COVID-19 Business Support from the Government

The Australian government created a $1 billion COVID-19 relief and recovery fund in March 2020 when the pandemic led to countrywide restrictions. The fund is available for regions and industries that have been severely affected by the contagion. Besides this fund, the governments of all the states and territories have jumped into action and have offered grants and support to businesses that are struggling financially due to the lockdown.

Some other assistance schemes initiated by the government include JobMaker Hiring Credit Scheme, Instant Asset Write-Off for Eligible Businesses, Business Investment Support, Assistance for Indigenous Businesses, SME Recovery Loan Scheme, etc. Many small businesses have managed to survive the pandemic with the help of these grants that have allowed them to retain their employees and sustain their entities.

How to Make Business Continuity Planning Effective?

Here is a list of the essential requirements for the success of the continuity planning efforts.

• Strategy – Creating a plan and implementing it throughout the departments.
• Collaboration – Making sure that everyone is on the same page and has access to all the tools and training material to keep going. A smooth flow of communication is vital to avoid confusion and misinterpretations.
• Technology – Ensuring that the best software, data storage systems, cybersecurity and online tools are utilised by the workforce to achieve the objectives. Facilitating the installation and use of up-to-date technology should be given importance.
• Policies – Changes in the policies should be effectively communicated and executed for the desired results.
• Prioritising – The business owner must create a list of projects that need to be completed on priority.
• Management – Entrepreneurs need to be on top of everything to keep track of the progress on each project and assessing the performance of the employees in the new setup.

The Significance of a Business Continuity Plan

The unprecedented circumstances brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic have made entrepreneurs realise the importance of creating a resilient entity. It is imperative to have processes in place that ensure maximum protection of data, digitisation of operations, automation, and customer retention.

It is required to keep the downtime to a minimum and develop capabilities that help sustain the business during tough times. It aids in evaluating risks and implementing a plan to remain unscathed from the threats. The most significant part of this plan is that it allows rapid recovery after a crisis and helps businesses regain their lost glory.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over, and it has been affecting businesses with its economic impact. Thus, it is crucial to understand the small business continuity and recovery plan if you intend to purchase a business for sale in Australia to stay safe during turbulent times.