Make a Plan: Business
The Point
It is very important to make a Business Continuity Plan. Each business is different. One plan cannot work for another. The following 15 areas of building a Business Continuity Plan will provide tools and resources to help you build your plan.
Do This
Build a Business Continuity Plan. With your planning team, take the online Business Continuity Planning training (free), or follow the links below to each of the 15 points of Business Continuity Planning and use the tools and resources in each to help you build your own Business Continuity Plan.
Contact Us: If you have questions, desire a consultation, or want a presentation or in-person training, please contact the Be Ready Business Program Coordinator by emailing [email protected].
Videos
Training
Executive Summaries
Downloads
- Business Continuity Planning Online Course
- Be Ready Business Continuity Planning Toolkit – Google Drive with word document templates to download.
- Be Ready Business Preparedness Steps / Recognition Criteria
- Business Continuity Professional Practices by DRI
- Blueprints to Develop a Business Continuity Plan by Info-Tech
- Building (and keeping!) executive support for your business continuity program
- Overview of US Regulations Pertaining to Business Continuity
- BCM Legislations, Regulations, Standards and Good Practice
- Agility Tabletop Exercises - 6 scenarios
- 2022 Exercise Playbook - BCI: 14 scenarios
- CISA Tabletop Exercise Packages: Over 35 scenarios
Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Templates
- BCP Small Business Template - FEMA
- BCP Template for Non-Federal and Community Based Organizations - FEMA
- BCP Template - Risksource
- BCP Template - DCAG
- BCP Template - Oregon
- BCP Template - FINRA
- BCP Template for Healthcare / Physicians - HSAG
- Non-Federal COOP Template 2024-25 - DHHS
Emergency Response Plan (ERP) Templates
- Property Emergency Plan Template
- Ready Business ERP Template
- CDC Emergency Action Plan Template
- CDC Evacuation Plans and Procedures eTool
- Ohio Sample ERP Template
- Fresno ERP Template
- Emergency Fire Drill Checklist
- Portland Sample Hazmat ERP
- University of Chicago Hazmat ERP
- College of DuPage Hazmat ERP
- Liberty Earthquake Action Plan Checklist
- FEMA Prepare Your Organization for an Earthquake - Playbook
- CDC Business Pandemic Planning Checklist
Links
- Elegant Community Preparation: How to effectively prepare for anything
- 23 Business Continuity Statistics You Need to Know
- DRJ - Business Continuity Rules and Regulations
- ISO 22301: International Standard on Business Continuity Management Systems
- Continuity Assessment Tool
- Business Continuity Self Assessment Checklist
- DRB - Business Preparedness Checklist Self Assessment
- Readiness for Resiliency Program: for small business to build disaster plans and get grants for prepared businesses.
- SABER (free App): Business status and needs reporting. Help Emergency Management officials know if your business is open or closed
- Resilience in a Box: U.S. Chamber – Free guide for creating preparedness and resilience plans
- Disaster Help Desk for Business: One on one expert guidance for quick crisis recovery
- Disaster Quick Guides: Preparedness and recovery guidance for small business
- Small Business Resilience Toolkit: Facebook – Free guides near bottom of their page
- PrepareMyBusiness.org – Free templates
- Continuity Guidance Circular - FEMA
- FEMA’s Business Continuity Planning Suite
- FEMA's Continuity Resource Toolkit
- Open For Business (OFB)-EZ toolkit is focused on business continuity and organized functionally.
- EZ-PREP is focused on emergency preparation and response, and organized chronologically.
- InterCEP Recovery Resources
- Agility - Business Continuity Management Glossary
- DRJ - Business Continuity Glossary
- E-Book (Free): Supply Chain Risk Management For Dummies
- Business Continuity Business Case Template
- For Government: Continuity Working Group (COOP)- Utah
- Use OpenAI's Chat GPT to help you create plans, exercises, and more
- CISA - Securing Public Gatherings
Networks
15 Points of Business Continuity Planning
1. Create a Planning Team
2. Determine Essential Business Functions
3. Identify Risks and Hazards / Rate Vulnerabilities
4. Family First / Preparedness at Home
5. Business Supply Chain Resilience
6. Communications and Continuity of Authority
7. Alternate Locations, Reconstitution, Devolution
9. Workplace Emergency Supply Cache
10. Vital Records Protection
11. Cybersecurity Measures
12. Emergency Response Plans
13. Employee Training
15. Neighbors Helping Neighbors / Thinking Beyond Your Borders
12 Areas of Preparedness
Utah Hazards
Expert Contacts:
Presenters, Consultants, technical support, etc.
Find a subject matter expert for any of the business continuity planning principles.
Are You an Expert?
Self-identify to be added to the expert list.
Let others know if you can present or consult on any of the business continuity planning principles.
Stories: Businesses in Disasters
“They Hoped it Would Never Happen”
Stories of the private sector impacted by disaster. Those who had a plan and those who did not, and how that impacted their resilience.
Private Sector Preparedness Council
A Private Sector Preparedness Council (PSPC) helps connect the community's private sector to emergency preparedness principles and practices.
Private Sector Preparedness Councils
Online Business Continuity Planning Training
Access Course
Be Ready Business Recognition Program
Toolkit: Building a Whole Community Preparedness Coalition
It takes involving the whole community for a community to be prepared. Here are the tools to do it.
Whole Community Coalition Toolbox
Whole Community Coalition Webpage
Organizations Preparing for Emergency Needs (O.P.E.N.) Training
OPEN teaches 10 preparedness actions to help your organization remain OPEN. OPEN includes both a web-based, self-guided training, and a downloadable instructor kit that will guide participants on how to identify risks, locate resources, and take preparedness actions.
OPEN Training
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity
Workplace CERT
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
