“is your business falling due to Coronavirus Outbreak?”
Coronavirus Lockdown in India has changed the way businesses think and operate. Planning for operational flexibility is of extreme importance during such a global crisis. Here are 5 key steps that can help you create a Business Continuity Plan during Coronavirus and create strategies and a framework to face such disasters.
1. Know your key Business products or Services
As an Entrepreneur/Business Owner you should rank your business priorities in order of importance. For e.g.
- Which area of business contributes most to the revenue?
- Devise a plan of these critical activities and distribute responsibilities to employees on how will these critical functions be managed during Corona Virus Lockdown
- Analyze how long can you continue with the existing resources. Look into cash flow management and financial implications.
2. How to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19
- Your Business Continuity Plan during Coronavirus outbreak has to revolve around the people and your stakeholders
- Protect the health of staff
- Develop a communication strategy for employees, customers, and suppliers
- Create a Standard Operating Procedure Guideline so that efficiency is maintained and core functions are carried out smoothly
- Create a CoronaVirus Outbreak Team that will look into critical functions and will ensure the protection of employees with their preparedness
- Consider flexible working options- remote working, work from home, alternate working days
BUSINESS CONTINUITY DURING Coronavirus OUTBREAK
Teamwork is essential. It will improve coordination and increase productivity. Show you care for the employee and everyone will work towards achieving the goal
- Identify operational and revenue impact
- Check on feasibility of sourcing goods from other suppliers or perhaps multiple suppliers
- Make sure that your supplier also has a Business Continuity Plan during Coronavirus in place.
- Since direct customer contact will not be possible during Coronavirus lockdown, it is wise to modify you product offerings to match what the consumer wants during this time.
- For E.g. some businesses can look at digital offerings during COVID-19 lockdown or you can also divert existing employees from a dormant function to the customer service vertical to keep the customer satisfied by offering them better service during Coronavirus Lockdown in India.
- In this way you might be able to retain existing customers and can utilize the workforce effectively.
- Devise clear communication strategies for internal employees and for external stakeholders
- With a slowdown due to Coronavirus outbreak in India and across the globe, utilize the time to think about the future and how to make up for this slump
- Periodically review your plan and amend if need be according to the external situation
- Self-learning is a continuous process, hence learn from the challenges thrown at you
- The Coronavirus outbreak will prepare us for the next global epidemic or slowdown, if it happens.
These 5 steps will help you prepare a Business Continuity Plan for your organization and help fight through the Coronavirus Lockdown. Insights, tools and structured business processes will help entrepreneurs and their businesses geared for pandemic planning.