Prepare for a day when the normal process fails

Identify what must keep working

List the systems and people needed to serve customers safely: premises, power, communications, equipment, payments, records and staffing where relevant. Ask what happens if each becomes unavailable. Start with the interruptions most relevant to the actual operation rather than an encyclopedic disaster checklist.

Determine which responses require franchisor approval or professional guidance. A change in service, location or equipment may affect contractual or regulatory obligations. Keep the business’s permitted options clear.

Give the plan practical details

Maintain verified emergency, insurance, supplier and support contacts in a form accessible during an outage. Identify who can make decisions and communicate with staff and customers. Keep sensitive access information secure; a continuity document should not become an exposed list of passwords.

Ask how records are backed up and how restoration is checked. Where an outside provider operates a critical system, understand its response process and your responsibilities. A general promise of cloud storage does not explain recovery.

Practice a small scenario

Walk through a realistic interruption with the team. Note missing contacts, unclear authority and steps that depend on unavailable equipment. Update the plan after changes to people, systems or premises. SBA’s business-management resources include resilience planning; the practical goal is a response the team can actually follow.

Put it on paper

• Name critical processes and decision owners.
• Keep contacts accessible and credentials protected.
• Practice and revise a realistic scenario.

Continue with the franchise research checklist, our FDD guide, and the research directory.