Stage 1: Understanding your business-critical activities
As the owner or manager of a business, understanding how everything fits together is essential. It allows you to identify the critical functions and activities of the business.
In an emergency, you need to concentrate on the essential activities needed to continue the business. This might be:
- generating the greatest profit
- providing information the business relies on
- avoiding a loss of reputation or credibility
Process and resource analysis
Analyse the business to identify the activities and resources you need to protect as far as possible.
Look at how your processes and procedures work:
- within your business and outside it
- with your customers, suppliers, regulators and other stakeholders
Identify key resources for your business, such as:
- employee skills and knowledge needed to keep the business going
- business premises, including all sites and remote or home working
- vehicles and other specialist equipment
- your data and systems
- communications
Put plans in place in case these become fully or partially unavailable.
Hazard analysis
Assess the risks and hazards to the business, and the likelihood of them happening.
These could be:
- global or national
- local
- industry-wide
- specific to your business
Examples of risks that could impact your business include:
- severe weather, such as flooding or high winds
- transport and travel, such as fuel shortages, strikes or road closures
- utilities failure, such as loss of electricity, gas or water supply
- human error or interference, such as chemical spills
- digital, technical or mechanical failure, such as data loss or equipment breakdown
- serious, widespread illness
These risks could:
- prevent access to buildings or equipment on a temporary or permanent basis
- prevent communication of information needed for the business to continue
- reduce the number of staff able to work
More information
Find more information about planning for major incidents and emergencies in these guides:
Mind your own business? A Guide for Local Businesses and Voluntary Organisations
Planning for emergencies in the capital (Mayor of London and London Assembly)