How do you write a business continuity plan?

To write a business continuity plan, you first need to identify the risks and vulnerabilities of your business. From there, you can develop a plan for each of these vulnerabilities. Besides the response action steps, the continuity plan should also detail designated team members and contacts. If you don’t know where to start, you can use Panda Doc’s template to get started.

What are the 5 components of a business continuity plan?

The five components of a business continuity plan are roles and responsibilities, risks and potential impact, response plan, communication, and testing. Each component responds to a key aspect of the actions to carry during an emergency.

What is a Business continuity plan template?

The business continuity plan template allows you to create a response action plan in case your business has been compromised through an existing threat. The goal is to avoid a business shutdown by addressing the issue and having a solution ready.

What are the four P's of business continuity planning?

The four P’s of a business continuity plan are: People (staff and customers) Processes (any activities or technology required) Providers (resources necessary to carry out your plan) Partners (who can help you)

What are the 3 elements of business continuity?

A business continuity plan must clearly state your business’s vulnerabilities, identify action steps and solutions, and detail a testing process. Once you have these three key elements, you can be more specific about how you will deliver those solutions and who will be involved. To ensure your continuity plan has everything necessary, you can use a template like the one on our website.

Business Continuity Plan Template

Created by:

[Sender.FirstName][Sender.LastName]

[Sender.Title][Sender.Company]

[Sender.Phone]

[Sender.Email]

Business description

Mission and vision statement

(Insert here)

Current Leadership/Management

(Add the names of the CEO, COO, President, or whoever leads the company at the moment)

Roles and responsibilities

In the event of an emergency, the emergency response team will be the only one with the authority to make determining decisions on how to proceed, such as:

Declare the start and end of an incident or emergency
Evacuate staff
Order immediate interruption of activities
Communicate with the media and craft press releases
Make decisions that can affect the company workflow

(Add any other that may apply)

The emergency response team is conformed by:

Team Leader:	(Full name)	(contact)
Marketing team representative:
Security representative:
Product team representative:
Legal team representative:
(Add role):

If for any reason, one or more of these individuals is not available, the backup members are:

Team Leader:	(Full name)	(contact)
Marketing team representative:
Security representative:
Product team representative:
Legal team representative:
(Add role):

Natural disaster emergency facilities

(Insert information about the natural disaster facilities in your building and how they should be used)

Risks and potential business impact

To prepare for business interruption, here is our BIA (business impact analysis) to identify our risks and vulnerabilities and their impact on the business. The BIA needs to be updated yearly if any changes occur.

Threat

Vulnerability

(what operations does it affect)

Consequences

Risk

(potential losses you will face)

Response plan

Response plan for (add threat)

People:	(Describe teams involved)
Process:	(Describe any activities required to carry out the plan)
Providers:	(Describe the resources and providers involved or needed to carry out the plan)
Partners:	(Identify any partners who are necessary or able to help)

Communication

Employees should report an emergency first to [Sender.Phone]. In case this person is unavailable, please immediately contact (phone number).

Notification system

During an emergency, the following announcements will be used by the emergency response team for internal communication purposes through text messages:

If evacuation is not needed: “Due to a developing emergency, we ask you to await the emergency response team's indications before continuing any work-related activities. Please pause any communications with clients, partners, or vendors until further notice.
If evacuation is needed: “Due to a developing emergency, we ask you to calmly exit the building and head to our designated response location (add preferred location, e.g., a specific street outside your building). Gather only necessary items such as medication, wallets, keys, phones, or laptops, as long as you don’t have to deviate from the exit to get them. We will inform you as soon as we have more information”.

Outside communications

Please follow (Team Member name) indications for emergencies that need to be shared with the press and members of our community.

All our social media platforms will be used as communication channels during this time, and any other online activity will be paused until further notice, including marketing campaigns.

If press releases are necessary, this is a list of reliable media outlets with whom we already have a relationship: (add media outlets and contacts).

We kindly ask you not to share company information with outside sources without consulting our emergency response team. In case you can’t contact them and need to know how to reply or respond to an exterior message, here is a quick guide to ensure proper communication:

Avoid speaking to the media or our independent journalists.
Do not share information about the current situation with our clients unless indicated otherwise.
Avoid sharing information about the current situation on your social media.
Contact emergency services and/or law enforcement immediately if the situation is life-threatening. (Add contact number, e.g., 911).

(Add any other relevant indications).

Testing and training

To ensure the proper execution of our continuity plan, the company will have (number of drills, e.g., 2) drills over the year on (add dates). Each one will be carried out by our emergency response team during work hours. Employees will receive a reminder email a week before the drill to prepare.

During each drill, we will review the fundamentals of our continuity plan and update our risks and vulnerability information if needed. We will also train our staff and team members on how to respond to an emergency, including evacuation and designated emergency gathering locations.

During the (first, second, etc.) drills we will cover (describe the risk and plan you will test).

Signature

MM / DD / YYYY

[Client.FirstName][Client.LastName]

Signature

MM / DD / YYYY

[Sender.FirstName][Sender.LastName]

Business Continuity Plan Template

Business description

Mission and vision statement

Current Leadership/Management

Roles and responsibilities

The emergency response team is conformed by:

If for any reason, one or more of these individuals is not available, the backup members are:

Natural disaster emergency facilities

Risks and potential business impact

Response plan

Response plan for (add threat)

Communication

Notification system

Outside communications

Testing and training

Business Continuity Plan Template

Useful resources