What is a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan is a short written answer to one question: if this breaks, how do we keep trading? For a small business it is a document of pages, not binders:

• It lists what would hurt - the systems, people and suppliers your trading day actually depends on.
• It names who decides - one person per scenario, so nobody waits for a meeting that cannot happen.
• It records the way back - account recovery steps, support numbers, and where the backups are.
• It is tested - an untested plan is a document, not a capability.

Start with the one system whose loss would stop you trading today, and write down what you would do about it.