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Running an owner-managed business requires constant attention—and often a wardrobe full of hats! But have you ever considered what would happen if you were suddenly unable to wear those hats?
No one likes to think about it, but an unplanned absence—due to illness, injury, a family emergency, or other unforeseen circumstances—is always a possibility.
And in a business that heavily relies on the owner, even a short absence can disrupt daily operations, impact your team, and potentially put years of hard work at risk.
That’s why business continuity planning is so important.
In this article, Emma Clifton, Business Advisory Partner, explores the common challenges owner-managed businesses face when the unexpected strikes—and the practical steps you can take now to protect your business, your team, and your peace of mind.
What’s at risk if you’re not around?
Operational disruptions
This is probably the most obvious but important challenge that a business faces. Many small businesses rely on the owner for critical decisions and daily tasks. Without a clear delegation strategy, employees may struggle to keep things running smoothly.
Financial and legal complications
If the owner is the sole signatory for financial bank accounts or the only person with access to legal documents, important transactions may be delayed or halted.
Customer and supplier relationships
Clients and suppliers may lose confidence in a business if they experience delays or confusion due to leadership gaps.
Employee uncertainty
Without clear guidance, employees may feel uncertain about their roles, which can impact productivity and morale. And if you have to take sudden time out of the business, the last thing you want to worry about is the risk of losing employees to a competitor or other firm.
But this can actually be flipped on its head to become a great opportunity for your employees to empower them to the run the business in your absence. Giving them a great sense of responsibility, ownership and pride in their role, but only if it’s handled correctly.
Business reputation risks
A lack of preparation can lead to missed deadlines, inconsistent service, and damaged brand reputation.
All the years of long hours and hard work to build up your brand and raise awareness of your business can be completely undone in the blink of an eye through no fault of your own.
Planning ahead for continuity
Now that I’ve completely scared you with what can happen in your absence, let’s look at the key preparations and steps that you can put in place now to avoid these issues.
Document your key processes
Developing a Standard Operating Procedures manual (SOP) covering all critical functions, from financial management to customer service, means your employees can maintain operations without your involvement.
A SOP doesn’t have to be war and peace but it should identify the key operational tasks that as a minimum the business needs to maintain to continue to operate. Once identified, you should then put a strategy in place for these key tasks to be continued in your absence.
You’ll then need to share this with key individuals within the business who will take responsibility for those tasks and provide them with the training they need to make sure they have the knowledge and skills to take this on.
Delegate authority and cross-skill staff
Identifying trusted employees who can take on leadership roles temporarily means you can be sure that essential functions like payroll, invoicing, and client management are covered.
Whilst this seems pretty obvious, you’d be surprised at how often this isn’t set-up. It’s very easy to spend too much time working ‘in’ the business instead of ‘on’ the business and unfortunately, I see this regularly.
Delegating tasks and cross-skilling your staff is something you should consider on a day-to-day basis, not just in the event of an unforeseen circumstance.
And freeing up your time to spend on strategising and growing the business can only be a positive step!
Grant limited access to financials and legal documents
Setting up a contingency plan with a second-in-command or a trusted advisor means they can easily access banking and legal records if needed. Using your accountants as your trusted advisors is a great way to know that some of these tasks will be covered in your absence.
You could also consider giving power of attorney to a reliable person for emergency situations.
Establish emergency communication protocols
Having a plan in place for notifying employees, suppliers and customers if the owner is unavailable can minimise confusion.
Again, this is such a simple step to put in place, a simple chain of command and clear messaging can be incredibly effective in ensuring the continuance of your business.
Ensure insurance and legal coverage
Reviewing your business insurance policies, including key person insurance, could help to protect you against financial losses due to an owner’s absence. Depending on the work that you perform, you may also want to ensure your commercial liability insurance is valid to allow others to enter into contractual obligations in your absence.
Use technology to help maintain control
If you’ve not already done it, you should consider implementing any cloud-based management tools available to allow for remote monitoring and control of business operations, even from a distance.
As a cloud-accounting specialist and partner of our outsourcing service, I see every day, first hand, just how big a part technology can play if you embrace it.
In summary, a sudden absence doesn’t have to spell disaster.
By preparing a business continuity plan in advance, you can safeguard your company’s stability, protect your employees and maintain trust with customers and partners.
Taking proactive steps means that even in an emergency, business operations can continue with minimal disruption.
To discuss anything covered in this article you can reach out to Emma or one of the team by calling 0330 058 6559 or email hello@scruttonbland.co.uk
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