THE DOMINO AFFECT…by dStringer

THE DOMINO AFFECT…by dStringer

I'm sure many of you watched with amazement, and a bit of fear as did I this past weekend, as the snow just kept on falling in New York and other eastern states.  This latest weather phenomenon literally paralyzed most of the eastern seaboard and was severely felt in many surrounding states as well.  I have a few relatives and friends in New York, so I was paying close attention to the weather reports all weekend.  As I watched the snow piling up to extraordinary heights, I started thinking about the domino affect an occurrence like this will have, probably for months.  And of course, because the focus at Alcala Consulting this quarter is Business Continuity Planning, I started to think about the many companies and corporations that could be affected...all because of snowflakes.

The latest estimates of the cost of "Blizzard 2016" are upwards of $3 BILLION...that's right, with a "B".  And experts are saying it could have been worse.  Because the storm occurred on a weekend, the "polarization" of cities like NYC and Washington D.C. was not as catastrophic as it could have been had this occurred on a business weekday.

Even though this storm is being summarized as "dodging a bullet", it is still costly, especially to commerce. Not just to those businesses in and around the affected region, but for any company that has a relationship with these eastern location businesses, like a supply chain vendor for example. Your business may be located in southern California, which today is experiencing a nice 74 degree day.  But if your major supplier is located in NYC, your business maybe experiencing a major disruption right now. The domino affects of a catastrophic event are far reaching and can touch many lives.

But, to those businesses who have executed a Business Continuity Plan, it really is almost business as usual, despite this storm, and other future chaotic events  Look at the name....business continuity.  Meaning, business continues, pretty much as usual.

By foreseeing any possible glitch that can occur...whether it be supply interruption from an out of state vendor, illness of a CEO, or epidemic like the flu that affects key personnel, a utility outage, sabotage, terrorism, or a catastrophic event in our own back yard...taking the relatively simple steps to develop a Business Continuity Plan allows your business to keep going amidst the chaos, and insures that your business can survive the "domino affect".

Once the plan has been formulated, it is safely stored virtually in the cloud.  When it is time to access, it can be as simple as pulling the instructions right out of the disaster administrator's pocket. Worse case scenario, business is up and running in less than a day...

Keep in mind, this is not insurance, although insurance is a necessity and a part of the BCP.  Simply, this is a plan that automatically becomes effective when a crises disrupts business, and allows business sustainability throughout and after the crisis.

One fourth of businesses fail after a catastrophic event...that's an unbelievable number however, it is a sad fact.  BUT...here is another fact.  The business that has a BCP in place earns credibility AND, therefore, more customers, not only because of the obvious professionalism, but because competitors could not sustain post-crisis.

If fortune tellers and crystal balls really were accurate reporters of the future, it would be so much easier, wouldn't it? Since all we have is common sense, we must rely on it to make good choices.  Head in the sand, ostrich like is not a good choice born of common sense.  The "It won't happen to me" mode of thinking is not the best approach to sustaining your business.  Learning more about BCPs and taking advantage of a free consultation from Alcala Consulting...the best decision you can make!

Contact us today and schedule an appointment and as we say, begin to put your mind at ease, knowing that you have taken the necessary steps to protect your business, and the valued employees that help make your business great.