How to Implement Proactive Business Continuity Planning

What Happens When the Leader Goes Down? A friend asked me a tough question recently: "Rusty, how did your company survive while you were out? That must’ve been incredibly disruptive." It was. And it wasn’t. Several years ago, that question would’ve triggered a wave of worry: Would payroll get processed? Are clients still being taken care of? Will the team stay focused and engaged? Is the business too dependent on me? That fear led to action. In 2018, we made a decision to stop building a business around a person and start building one around a plan. We started contingency planning. We built redundancies. We cross-trained. And we created something simple but powerful: a Communication Tree. So when I recently faced an unexpected medical crisis, here’s what happened: -My wife Pam and I alerted our leadership team. -They activated the plan. -Kimbra Pahl rescheduled my week of meetings. -Heather McCoskey kept our team updated, and stepped in with clients and prospects on my behalf. -Curtis Aubrey made sure billing, vendor payments, and payroll never skipped a beat. The company didn’t pause. In many ways, it got stronger. Lesson for fellow business owners and CEOs: If your company can’t run without you, then it’s not ready to grow beyond you. Contingency planning isn’t pessimism — it’s stewardship. Build depth before it’s needed. Because leadership isn’t just about what you can do. It’s about what your team can carry when you no longer can.

So the boss says you're not getting any headcount...but you still need to scale your business continuity program. If this has happened to you and your business continuity team don't worry there are some tricks to try in order to account for a lack of personnel. Where is your BC program lacking? -Risk Assessments: Partner with your companies risk team and see where your BC information can add value to their risk assessments and vice versa. I partnered with our risk team and now I can provide a lot more quantitative data to support criticality assessments within my BC program. This helps leaders make informed decisions on where to invest more, and more importantly where we can cut back and save resources. -Tabletop Exercises: Is there any other team that does tabletops or exercises in your company? Incident Management teams, or any team that does exercises and drills may already be doing tabletops. The scenarios are already created, evaluators play books created, and a lot of stuff may already be done. Use their materials to support your BC tabletops. Just change Happy to Glad and you are ready to host your tabletops. -Concerned that you have not identified all the critical assets your business depends on to deliver its product to the customers? Set up some time with your Finance team and have them provide you with the Profits and Loss (P&L) sheet. This will identify every leader in your company that has a line of accounting assigned to them and what their budget is. Using this information you can identify those teams, meet with the leaders and gather context on which teams support critical activities, and most importantly identify the assets they depend on to maintain operational availability of their products they support. I am not saying this is the only way but just some nuggets I have learned over the last few years. What works for you? Feel free to share. #businesscontinuity #enterpriseresilience #disasterrecovery #leadership #programmanagement

It took me 14 years to learn how to create a scalable business. I’ll teach you in 5 minutes: 1. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 Every business has one. It’s the weak link that can break everything. → Find processes without backups. → Look for tasks that rely on one person. → Check for tools or systems with no alternatives. Awareness is the first step. 2. 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 Spread the load. Don’t let one person hold all the keys. → Cross-train your team. → Rotate tasks regularly. → Document procedures. Resilience comes from redundancy. 3. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 Systems are your safety net. They keep everything running smoothly. → Standardize processes. → Automate repetitive tasks. → Use project management tools. Systems reduce dependency on any single point. 4. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 Be prepared for the unexpected. Have a Plan B. → Test your backups. → Create backup plans. → Backup data regularly. A good backup plan is your business insurance. 5. 𝗙𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Never stop improving. A stagnant business is a failing business. → Embrace change. → Encourage feedback. → Regularly review processes. Continuous improvement keeps your systems strong. 6. 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Your team is your greatest asset. Keep them sharp. → Offer regular training. → Encourage learning and growth. → Promote professional development. A skilled team can handle any challenge. 7. 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 Use tech to your advantage. It’s a powerful tool. → Use cloud solutions. → Use reliable software. → Stay updated with tech trends. Technology can minimize single points of failure. 8. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 Keep an eye on your systems. Regular checks prevent issues. → Conduct regular audits. → Adjust strategies based on data. → Track key performance indicators. Proactive monitoring keeps your business running smoothly. 9. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 Effective communication is key. Keep everyone in the loop. → Use collaboration tools. → Hold regular team meetings. → Foster open communication. Good communication can prevent many failures. 10. 𝗕𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 Stay agile. Be ready to change direction if needed. → Watch market trends. → Be open to new ideas. → Adapt quickly to changes. Agility helps you stay ahead. That's it! — Like this post? Please let me know what you thought in the comments below. Also, click on my profile 👉 Jesse and subscribe to The Agency CEO Newsletter for weekly tips on scaling your agency. Ps. Want help implementing? DM me "Scale" to learn more.