Business Continuity

Learn how to prepare your business for an emergency or disruption to be able to maintain operations and recover quickly. Strengthening individual business preparedness helps to enhance the resilience of the entire community.

Page Sections

Overview

Business continuity planning helps a business continue running during a disruption and restore operations to normal with minimal impact to the business.

Disasters can have devastating effects on businesses. According to FEMA, following a disaster:

43% of businesses never reopen;
51% of businesses close within 2 years; and
75% of businesses fail within 3 years.

Having a business continuity plan can help your business ensure employee safety, avoid risk, improve operations, become more financially stable, protect your reputation, retain customers, and avoid lawsuits and legal liability.

Toolkit Components

The Business Continuity Toolkit includes guidance, plan templates, and exercises, available as Word Documents and Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Adobe Acrobat Reader is available free of charge. The toolkit includes:

Business Continuity Program Overview outlines the components of the Business Continuity Toolkit.
Business Continuity Program Guidance introduces Business Continuity and its importance, and guides business owners through the toolkit components, including an Emergency Action Plan, a Business Continuity Plan, and a tabletop exercise to test their plans.
Emergency Action Plan and Response Guides provide essential guidance on navigating a wide range of emergency scenarios to protect life and property.
Business Continuity Plan provides a framework for businesses to continue operating and return to normal operations following an emergency or disruption.
Business Continuity Plan Exercise guides business owners through four disruption scenarios, testing their emergency response, essential function prioritization, continuity and restoration strategies, and communication plans.