Word for Word :
News, etc - Summer 2010
Ready for anything? Safeguard your SME!
Book Review - "The Entrepreneur’s Book of Checklists: 1000 Tips to Help
You Start and Grow Your Business"
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Ready for anything? Safeguard your SME!
SMEs have traditionally placed business continuity planning rather
low on their priority lists. It’s not hard to see why. Given
that only a minority of all businesses have a continuity plan in
place, it’s unsurprising that small business owners generally
feel this is not something on which they can afford to spend their
limited resources. And after all, we all believe that the worst
only happens to someone else…
However, recent research from BT concludes that many small businesses
are at serious risk because they fail to make sound plans for dealing
with a major problem. BT encourages SMEs to take a careful look
at the threats that face them (in particular the dangers posed to
their data and IT systems by extreme weather, fire, power failure,
or viral attack) and to create a sound, tested plan that will provide
a recovery route should an incident occur.
Businesses that are able to recover rapidly following a crisis
will survive and thrive. Those that do not may suffer serious effects,
and may never recover at all. A business continuity plan will defend
your business in the face of these threats, enabling trade to continue
even when the unthinkable happens.
With the rise in cyber-crime and terrorism, business continuity
planning is developing an ever-higher profile and its importance
in protecting businesses and reassuring customers is increasingly
acknowledged.
Russell Price, Chairman of the Continuity Forum comments “It’s
critical that small firms don’t neglect continuity planning:
they don’t have the financial resilience of larger businesses
or the technical expertise needed if things go wrong. Small firms
see continuity planning as an expensive process, but it doesn’t
have to be, particularly when, in the event of a crisis, they risk
losing everything”.
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Book review
The Entrepreneur’s Book of Checklists: 1000 Tips to Help
You Start and Grow Your Business (pb 2007), Robert Ashton, Prentice
Hall, £12.99, ISBN 027371290X
Here is a great guide for anyone who wants to start up their own
business – or for those who have already done so but are on
the lookout for more insight and information.
This is not one of those turgid “Do it this way” manuals,
but a readable, good humoured resource from an experienced entrepreneur.
Robert Ashton combines sound common sense with excellent practical
advice. The latest book from this prolific author offers a routemap
to ease your journey – and your fears – as you venture
into the uncharted territories of business ownership. It’s
beautifully easy to navigate: find your way around the many nuggets
of wisdom using the index and incisive chapter summaries.
This book provides a long-term resource that will not only see
you through the pains and pleasures of creating and launching your
venture, but will stand by to offer guidance and inspiration as
your business and experience grow. It’s loaded with the experiences
of others who have trodden the entrepreneurial path before you,
and even gives personal contact details with some contributors who
are keen to share what they have learned.
“This book”, says The Sunday Times, “is full
of the stuff the ‘experts’ never tell you. Use it as
your short cut to success.”
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