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Your cigar business likely depends on the skills and experience of a few key individuals. Therefore, your cigar business could be crippled should one or more of these individuals become sick or need to take a short-term leave of absence. If the departure becomes permanent, a good succession plan can ease the transition. But what if it’s temporary?
A business continuation plan can see your cigar business through any kind of temporary leadership disruption
What’s a Business Continuation Plan?
Sometimes called a business continuity plan, a business continuation plan ensures the continued operation of your business should one or more key individuals be unable to continue their job duties. What this plan should include will vary depending on the type of cigar business you have, how it operates, and its business structure. Here are several characteristics that a good business continuation plan will have.
Characteristic #1: Identifies Time-Sensitive Tasks
What needs to be done will vary depending not just on your type of business, but also when the emergency arises. For example, if you own or operate a tobacco farm, there will be certain tasks that, depending on the season, might need to be taken care of immediately. You’ll want your business continuation plan to recognize these time-sensitive jobs and assign the appropriate individual to ensure they get done on schedule.
Characteristic #2: Specifies Individuals to Handle Certain Business Tasks
Because of the risk of two or more individuals coming into conflict over who should be taking care of what, clarifying roles might be the most important function of the business continuity plan. Spelling out everyone’s responsibilities beforehand avoids confusion and ambiguity and helps keep your cigar business running smoothly.
Characteristic #3: Explains Mission Critical Business Functions
In addition to listing all the important tasks and deadlines your cigar business needs to meet, the business continuation plan should go a step further and outline how those tasks get done. Depending on the substitute’s familiarity with their new role, whoever’s assigned to fill in for the absent individual will appreciate a basic guide covering what’s expected of them and how they should go about completing those tasks.
For instance, a business continuity plan discussing a cigar retail establishment’s store manager will need to list the tasks they’re responsible for and the steps for completing them. This plan will contain things like employee telephone numbers, computer logins, suppliers’ contact information, and a list of daily chores at opening and closing.
Venerable Law is here to help you develop a business continuity plan that will see your cigar operation through a leadership crisis. Call us at 813-680-4530 to set up a time to discuss various options.
