The Value Of Creating & Maintaining a Continuity Plan

No one wants to talk about the possibility of a disaster or crisis happening to their business, so why should you?

2018 Natural Catastrophes

Natural catastrophes may occur in your business’s geographical area, and having a solid business continuity plan in place before a natural disaster happens is critical for ensuring a smooth response. The following statistics emphasize the financial costs associated with natural catastrophes – Insured losses due to natural disasters in the United States in 2018 totaled $52 billion, according to Munich Re, down from $78 billion total for 2017. Wildfires, heat waves and droughts, with $18 billion in losses, accounted for 34% of the U.S.’s insured losses in 2018. Tropical cyclones accounted for another 30% of insured losses with $15.6 billion, followed by severe thunderstorms losses with $14.1 billion, or 27% of the 2018 insured losses. Winter storms and cold waves with $3.0 billion in insured losses, floods and flash floods with $1.2 million in insured losses and earthquakes and other geophysical events accounted for the remainder of 2018 natural disaster losses.

Source: Insurance Information Institute

Having a continuity plan in place shortens the time you are out of business, and losing money. To ensure you are maximizing your efforts you will need to identify the impact of each disruption. Determine the length of time that clients or services can be without. Identify areas of potential revenue loss, creating a plan to get the highest losses fixed sooner. Identify any additional expenses that may arise and cause either negative or positive impacts. Knowing ahead of time how much money you will need to expend in times of emergency will help keep your business afloat.

Also! Be sure to remember that when business continuity management plans are in place before a disaster occurs, organizations are often afforded lower insurance premiums. Stakeholders can rest assured that when (and if) a disaster strikes, the gears of their investments will continue to turn.