Unfortunately, with the recent disasters that have hit our state there will be a number of small business owners with lost or destroyed critical data and our heart goes out to them.
As small business owners it’s heartbreaking to even begin to imagine the time and money that would be needed to rebuild your business from scratch. How would you remember what you have done for each and every customer or for yourself?
This is why I strongly recommend to all my clients and colleagues (and friends and family) that they have in place a well thought out Business Continuity Plan (also called a disaster recovery plan). The main purpose of any business continuity plan is to protect business critical data from being destroyed.
Successful plans focus on keeping this business critical data backed up and accessible at all time. When a disaster occurs, the last thing you want to find out is that all of your files and documents are lost forever
Business critical data includes information your business could not recover if it were lost. Any small business disaster recovery plan should focus on keeping this irreplaceable data safe. That data might include:
- Customer information
- Email correspondence
- Financial records and information
- Sales and shipping records
- Insurance, vendor and employee contact information
- LAN and WAN Network diagrams and IT vendor service level agreements
- Telephone service level agreements
- Drawings or Specification documents
- HR records
- Video or audio records
- Procedures and Policies
- Quality and product tracking records
- Inventory records
- Certificate and Licenses
- Payroll data
- Asset register
- Debtors & Creditor register
- Security information
- Manuals, books and other products created for and by your business
- Off site storage indexes which include what is stored off site, where it’s stored, and when it was updated
An essential action plan for a small business is to have an online cloud accounting software system similar to Xero or Saasu, a good scanner and a cloud based file storage and synchronisation facility like ‘DropBox’. This, together with the help of your professional Bookkeeper is one of the best methods to avoid critical data disaster.
For help with developing and implementing your disaster recovery action plan before it’s too late or your business recovery options if it is already too late – please contact me today.
Maureen Millar
Jim’s Bookkeeping Northern Gold Coast (Helensvale QLD 4121)
Author Maureen Millar is the owner of Jim’s Bookkeeping Northern Gold Coast and she supports small business’ in Helensvale and across the Northside of the Gold Coast. To find out more about Maureen, visit her profile page at http://www.jimsbookkeepingbrisbane.com/maureen-miller.html or request her free report to discover “How to Stabilise & Grow Your Business in 7 Easy Steps“
Terry has recently been awarded the prestigious ‘National Franchisor of the Year Award’ by Jim’s Bookkeeping Australia which recognises his outstanding dedication to the welfare of his franchisees and the personal involvement he shows in all of their businesses.
