what is a business continuity plan nz

Any business owner would be worried about a big problem. An unexpected event can stop your business, hurt your reputation, and even put your life in danger. These risks aren’t just ideas in New Zealand. The problems are real and different, from the ground shaking under our feet to the constant threat of a cyber-attack. A good plan is your most important tool in this situation.

A strong business continuity plan (BCP) is necessary for survival and strength. It’s the plan that helps your business get through a crisis so you can keep running and serving your customers. This guide will tell you everything you need to know about making a complete business continuity plan in New Zealand. We’ll talk about the specific risks that Kiwi businesses face and give you a clear, step-by-step guide to making a plan that will keep you safe in the future.

How to Plan for Business Continuity

It’s important to understand the main ideas before you start making your plan. A well-organised BCP is more than just a piece of paper; it’s a way to deal with risk in a strategic way.

What is a BCP, or Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a written plan that shows how a company will keep its most important functions going during and after a disruption. It has rules and steps that an organisation must follow to lessen the effects of a disaster. Emergency contacts, information about important business functions, recovery plans, and communication plans are all important parts. Think of it as a guide for your business on how to deal with chaos.

Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan

People often use the terms “business continuity” and “disaster recovery” interchangeably, but they refer to different things. 

• A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a plan that is made ahead of time to keep the whole business running during a crisis. It includes people, property, and business processes.
• The BCP has a part called the Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan. It is more reactive and focuses specifically on restoring IT infrastructure and data after a disruptive event. The BCP will show your employees how to keep working while your servers are being fixed, even though the DR plan may say how to get them back online.

The Good Things About Having a BCP

Making a BCP takes time, but it has many benefits that go beyond just being ready.

• Less downtime: A clear plan lets you get back to important tasks quickly, which cuts down on financial losses.
• Protects Assets: It helps safeguard your physical assets, data, and intellectual property. 
• Keeps Reputation: Showing customers and stakeholders that you are strong and dependable builds trust and protects your brand image.
• Keeps Employees Safe: The health and safety of your team is a key part of any BCP.
• Gives you an edge over your competitors: Being the only business that stays open when others can’t is a big plus.

Evaluating Risks That Are Unique to New Zealand

Every business needs to think about the unique risks that come with New Zealand’s geography and economy. You need to make sure that your business continuity plan is specific to these threats.

• Natural Disasters: Because we are on the Pacific Ring of Fire, we are at risk for earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. We also have to worry about floods and very bad weather events like cyclones, which can damage infrastructure and supply chains.
• Economic Risks: Because New Zealand is a trading country, its businesses are at risk of market fluctuations and problems with the supply chain. A crisis in another country can have a big impact on local businesses, making it harder to get goods and raising the cost of materials.
• Cybersecurity Threats: Every business is at risk of digital threats. Data breaches, ransomware attacks, and phishing scams are becoming more common. They can bring a business to its knees by stealing sensitive information and shutting down IT systems.
• Pandemics and Health Crises: As we’ve all seen, a global health crisis can make businesses switch to remote work, deal with staff shortages, and deal with big changes in how people shop.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Business Continuity Plan

Building a BCP doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You can make a complete and useful plan by breaking it down into small, doable steps. Here’s a detailed guide to get you started. 

Step 1: Do a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

The first thing you need to do is figure out which parts of your business are the most important. A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) helps you find these areas and figure out what might happen if they were to be disrupted.

• Find the most important functions: Make a list of all the things your business does and figure out which ones are necessary for it to stay open. This could mean making things, taking orders, or paying employees.
• Find out how the disruption will affect things: For each critical function, analyze the financial and operational impact of a disruption over time. What would happen if this function stopped working for an hour, a day, or a week?
• Set Goals for Recovery:
  • Recovery Time Objective (RTO): This is the maximum acceptable amount of time a critical function can be down before the business suffers significant damage. 
  • Recovery Point Objective (RPO): This is the most data loss your business can handle. For instance, if your RPO is one hour, your backups can’t be older than one hour.

Step 2: Do a Risk Assessment

After you figure out what’s important, you need to find the threats that could hurt those functions.

• Find Possible Threats: Based on the threats that are specific to New Zealand (like earthquakes, cyber attacks, etc.), come up with a list of possible risks.
• Determine the Likelihood and Effect: For each threat, think about how likely it is to happen and what it could mean for your most important tasks.
• Put Risks in Order: Make a risk matrix to rank threats. Focus your resources on mitigating the high-likelihood, high-impact risks first. 

Step 3: Make plans for how to keep things going

Now that you know what your risks and most important functions are, you can come up with ways to make sure things keep going.

• Risk Mitigation: Implement measures to reduce the likelihood or impact of identified risks. This could mean making sure your equipment is safe, making your supply chain more diverse, or improving your cybersecurity protocols.
• Backup and Recovery: Make sure your data and IT systems have strong backup options. Cloud-based solutions are often best for businesses in New Zealand because they keep data safe off-site.
• Other Operations: Make plans for different ways of doing things. This could mean setting up a second place to work or making a remote work policy with the right tools and technology.
• Continuity in the Supply Chain: Find other suppliers and make backup plans so that your supply chain doesn’t get messed up.

Step 4: Write the BCP Document

It’s time to write down everything in a plan that is easy to read and understand. A good business continuity plan nz template will help you, but you should change it to fit your needs.

• Write down It’s clear: Use clear, simple language to write the plan. Don’t use jargon so that anyone can understand it when things are tough.
• Set Roles and Responsibilities: Make it clear who is in charge of what during a crisis. Make a crisis management team with a clear chain of command.
• Give clear instructions: Give clear instructions for different situations. What are the first five things you should do when an earthquake happens? Who do they contact? 
• Make sure it’s easy to get to: Keep copies of the plan in a safe cloud service and in physical locations away from the main office. It should be easy for key people to get to it at any time.

Step 5: Put the BCP to the test and use it

A plan is only good if it works. Regular testing is important to find weaknesses and make sure your team is ready.

• Make up scenarios: Do regular drills and simulations of different types of crises. This could be a full-scale simulation or a tabletop exercise where the team talks about how they would respond.
• Find Gaps: Testing will show you gaps or old information in your plan. Use these findings to make improvements. 
• Change the Plan: After each test, add what you learnt and any changes that need to be made to your BCP.

Step 6: Maintain and Update the BCP 

A business continuity plan is always changing. It must evolve with your business.

• Set up regular reviews: You should review and update your BCP at least once a year or whenever your business makes big changes, like getting new technology, hiring new key employees, or moving to a new office.
• Stay up to date: Make sure the plan stays up to date with any changes in your business or new risks that come up.
• Tell people about updates: Make sure that everyone who needs to know about changes to the plan is aware of them and has been trained on the new procedures.

Things that are important for businesses in New Zealand

There are a few things that are unique to New Zealand that you should keep in mind when making your BCP.

• Local Regulations: Ensure your plan complies with New Zealand’s health and safety regulations and any industry-specific standards. 
• Insurance: Check your insurance policies to make sure you have enough coverage for different kinds of problems, such as business interruption insurance.
• Local Collaboration: Get to know the people who work for local emergency services and civil defence. They can be very helpful in a big crisis.
• Cloud Solutions: It is highly recommended to use cloud-based solutions for backing up data, communicating, and working together. This makes sure that you can access your data and systems from anywhere, which is important if your physical location is compromised.

Business Continuity Tools and Technologies

The right technology can help you manage your BCP better and make it work better.

• Backup and Replication Software: These are programs that automatically make copies of your data and store them in a safe place away from your computer.
• Cloud-Based Disaster Recovery (DRaaS): Services that let you access a cloud-based recovery environment whenever you need it.
• Communication Tools: Use platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or mass notification systems to keep your team in touch during a crisis.
• Risk Management Software: These are tools that help you find, evaluate, and handle risks in an organised way.

Today is the day to build your resilience.

Any business in New Zealand that wants to do well in an unpredictable world needs a business continuity plan. It’s not a luxury. You can protect your people, your assets, and your reputation by being proactive and following a plan. Making a BCP gives you valuable information about how your business works and makes it stronger and more resilient in the end.

The Business Kiwi team is here to help you make a business continuity plan that fits your specific needs. Get in touch with us to set up a consultation and start working towards making sure your business’s future is safe.