How to Create a Business Disaster Recovery BDR Plan that Actually Works

Most businesses have been impacted in some shape or form because of COVID-19 and now is a great time to create a business disaster recovery (BDR) plan.

COVID-19 impacted all aspects of your business like revenue, furloughs, your staff working remote, and how you use technology.

Now that we’re seeing light at the end of the tunnel, there’s some strategic things you should think about.

Review your Business Disaster Recovery (BDR) plan

One of the first things to do is to review your business disaster recovery plan.

In our research, here’s some interesting data and statistics we discovered:

• 75% of small business do not have a business disaster recovery (BDR) plan. (not good, by the way)
• 93% of companies that operate without a strategic business disaster recovery (BDR) plan, and end up suffering a data disaster, typically go out of business within one year according to (PhoenixNAP).
• From March – April 2020, U.S. clothing manufacturers and retailers are down 75.2% due to the lack of supplies to make clothing (Statista).

In your business disaster recovery (BDR) plan, you’ll need to address things like finding alternative (or strategic) suppliers for materials, especially if you’re in an industry like manufacturing, retail, or similar.

You’ll want to communicate with your customers about commitments and ongoing issues related to limited materials, goods, orders, and product/service delivery times.

Your business disaster recovery BDR plan will need to consider the possibility of suppliers not being able to deliver. If you rely on just-in-time (JIT) delivery methods, logistics may still be limited for a period of time.

Canceled orders due to COVID-19

Another thing to consider is your clients cancelling orders, or canceling services because of lack of demand.

You might find that you many have clients or customers who are unable to meet their financial obligations to pay you. If you’re experiencing this, you’ll want to have a plan that meets your ordering expectations or delivery expectations.

If you’re able to work out an equitable plan for them and you, you’ll look favorably and will likely keep customers when everything returns to normal.

What if your market shifts

As you reopen you may find your market has shifted.

If you have multiple products or services, you’ll want to focus on selling the one that historically sells well, in order to weather the storm of revenue shortfalls.

Check out Verne Harnish’s books/resources about how to create and pivot new products and services, as well as how to scale despite a challenging economy.

You’ll need to gauge your market and even pivot your existing services to best maximize revenue. You may even find some existing customers or clients might not come back because of how they’ve been impacted. This means you’ll need a solid business development and marketing plan to drive new customer acquisition.

Remember, this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. You’ve made it through the most difficult part and now just need to navigate the reopening and slowly return to normal.