Bad things happen to good businesses, no matter how big or small. A hard drive can fail and destroy your tax records. Toxic chemicals can be spilled or a coffee pot can catch fire, destroying work quotas. A laboratory refrigerator can fail, killing vital biological samples. Beyond your deskthere are acts of terror and earthquakes. You can be hacked, the economy can be controlled, or new laws can be passed that affect whether you can do business at all.

If there is a pandemic that destroys the economy, you shouldn't just rely on the government to step in like it did in 2020. The government may be able to help, but you should never put your business on it. Every business has a responsibility to ensure its survival in difficult and turbulent times. This means that any business—or person or family, for that matter—is wise to take steps to solve problems when they occur.

Having one contingency plan it can save your business. An ironic example was Cantey Technology of South Carolina, which hosts hundreds of servers for its customers. When lightning struck her building and destroyed her network infrastructure, melted cables and burned her computers, contingency planning saved the day. This could have been devastating for Cantey and her clients. But Cantey had moved its clients' servers in a remote data center, allowing uninterrupted services to its customers. Not every business is so lucky: 40% of small and medium-sized businesses don't reopen after a natural disaster and another 25% fail within a year of a disaster.

Related: 5 ways to prepare your business for natural disasters, catastrophes and loss of income

Planning to fail

Knowing that critical failure approaches for every business has led to the creation of the related disciplines of business continuity and disaster recovery. According to Institute of Business Continuity“Business continuity is about having a plan to deal with difficult situations so that your organization can continue to operate with as little disruption as possible.” Disaster Recovery, according to the book by Andrew Hiles Business Continuity Management, Global Best Practicesspecifically addresses what is needed for it recover and restore… information technology, infrastructure and telecommunications capabilities after an incident.

What will you do when something bad happens and threatens your ability to do business? If you plan, you can skip it. To minimize – or, ideally, avoid – downtime, you should make a business continuity plan (BCP). Acting quickly can not only maintain your revenue, but assure your customers that you can meet their needs reliably.

A famous military quote says that no plan survives contact with the enemy. But there is little doubt that it is better to plan than not.

Related: 5 reasons why you should create an emergency response program for your business

8 steps to implement disaster recovery

Your business will be unique, but these steps provide the basis for doing the best job you can to minimize the damage from any potential incident.

1. Perform a “risk assessment.” This is a fancy term to identify anything that can affect your business operations. List the events that could disrupt your business: a natural disaster, equipment failure, power outages, damage from disgruntled employees, the loss of a key employee, or a cyber attack.
2. Identify your critical business functions. This will depend on your business. A landscaping business needs its yard tools and transportation. A web design business needs computers, internet access and power. Whatever these items are, be as detailed as you can.
3. Create one disaster recovery plan. For each of the potential problems listed above, think about how you would react if a disaster occurred. Will a tornado affect your ability to deliver products? Some events will be more likely than others, so work out a solution for those first. Plan for a power outage before you plan for an alien invasion, for example.
4. Back up your data regularly. Every business has data it needs to function, including employee data, tax data, sales data, project specifications, customer lists and even recipes. The cloud offers an easy-to-use option, especially in conjunction with a document management system (DMS), which you can already use to record invoices for your business. You should also take the time to learn about digital security.
5. Make one emergency communication plan. In the heat of a disaster, time is critical. Now is not the time to start learning your ISP's weekend phone number. Key employees who will need to take action first, then vendors who may need to change shipping or delivery, then customers who may need to know if they can still visit or shop online, and other third parties interested. You will need up-to-date contact information for all key personnel and it should be easily accessible.
6. Train your employees. Once you have a plan, hold a periodic training session to educate your employees on what to do. This could be a pizza party for a small business such as a nail salon; it could be a full afternoon or more if it's for an online retailer. Drills and simulations help everyone remember the plan—and identify any weaknesses before a real emergency destroys your plan.
7. Work with key partners. Communication is not enough unless you have prepared a seller or a customer for what to do in the event of a flood or terrorist attack. Make arrangements ahead of time. Talk to service providers, equipment vendors, carriers, office space providers… anyone you can count on when something disrupts your business. Do it BEFORE an emergency so you don't fight everyone else when there's a transit strike or a bridge collapse.
8. Test and update regularly. Have you made your plan? congratulations. Don't leave it in a desk drawer or buried under restaurant menus to go on a bulletin board. Remember if you've changed a vendor or added a new source of income. Review your plan and make sure it still works.

Related: How to strengthen your business against the threat of natural disasters

A fire extinguisher when your business is on fire

A stove fire in your kitchen can quickly turn into a disaster without a fire extinguisher nearby. Your business needs the equivalent. If you get your tip from Amazon's multi-region architecture, government plan to keep banks and credit unions connected or one Astronaut caution to “prepare for the unexpected,” your small business can significantly increase its survivability when disaster calls.