A one-page business continuity plan for a small office.

Large companies have thick plans. A small office needs one page that people will actually read.

What to write

1. Critical systems: the five things the business cannot run without, such as email, accounting, files and phones.
2. Targets: how much data you can lose and how long you can be down, for each.
3. Owners and contacts: who decides, who fixes, and phone numbers for internet, power, suppliers and support.
4. Backups: what is backed up, where copies live and how to restore.
5. Work-arounds: how staff work if the office is unreachable: laptops, mobile hotspots, cloud tools.
6. Communication: how staff and customers hear what is happening.

Practical protections

• UPS for network and key devices.
• A second internet link or mobile backup.
• Cloud-based email and files.
• Offsite and offline backups.
• Spare laptop and key accessories.

Practise it

Once a year, pretend the office is closed and the main server is dead. Time how long it takes to be productive again, and fix what you find.

Keep it alive

Review after every staff or system change. A plan that is out of date is worse than none, because it creates false confidence.