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Small-business continuity: start with what must continue

A practical starting point for a small UK business facing loss of power, internet, premises, a key person, supplier or critical system.

Define the critical functions

1. List the few activities that must continue for the business to operate safely and serve customers.
2. For each activity, decide the maximum tolerable downtime and who owns the decision.
3. Map the dependencies: people, premises, power, internet, suppliers, data and equipment.
4. Write one realistic manual or alternative process for each critical function.
5. Keep essential contacts available offline and agree who communicates with staff, customers and suppliers.

Plan for loss, not a specific disaster

Continuity planning is stronger when it asks what happens if a resource becomes unavailable, rather than trying to predict every possible cause.

Test it once

Run a short tabletop exercise: assume one critical dependency has failed for a day. Record what becomes unclear, then fix those gaps before a real incident.

Primary sources

• GOV.UK — Expecting the unexpected
• NCSC — preparing business continuity for disruptive cyber attacks

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