Don’t ignore the obvious. Businesses can spend an inordinate amount of time planning for the big events. But they forget to focus on the simple things, like putting virus protection on the office computers. A virus could have a severe impact on your business if it corrupts your files. Also, when you have a problem within your business, try to understand what the root cause of the problem was and not focus on the first explanation. Very often as you dig deeper, you will find that the true cause isn’t what you originally thought.
Neil Zaltsman, WA state manager, Worldwide Online Printing
Planning is critical. Don’t plan on how to deal with disasters after they happen. I don’t think you need to have a manual for every contingency because it’s a never-ending story. Typically, most people are complacent when it comes to planning. In saying that, there have been a number of recent events – flooding, natural disasters, financial crises – that have disrupted people’s lives and businesses and emphasised the importance of planning. Keep things in balance. It’s not just natural disasters one needs to plan for. There are lots of other things that can also occur and you need to be prepared for.
Tom Eckersley, Managing director, Print Approach
Think about the full range of what could happen – what are the most likely risks and the high-impact ones? Don’t get scared off by thinking ‘there are a million things so I won’t do anything’. Ask yourself: what are the three most likely events that could cause the most impact and how can I realistically do something about them? Also, make sure you include the people component of the business. A lot of printers are family owned and/or small. One disaster people don’t think about is ‘what if the managing director gets taken offline?’
Peter Mansfield, State manager SA/NT, Printing Industries Association of Australia
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