Once you have decided on your strategy, the next stage is to develop your plan. Be sure to use non-technical language, making it accessible and easy to understand by everyone. The plan should enable you to restore your business to an acceptable level of activity, keeping your critical activities going until such time as you can return to normal business.

It is important to update your plan regularly: you do not want to be in a crisis with an out of date plan. Remember, it will need to be updated when key personnel change, when you move to a different location or when your key clients or suppliers change. You might wish to expand it and add local information, or fresh ideas to make it even more useful.

• Identify who is responsible for doing what

• Use easy to follow checklists

• Provide a clear list of what needs to be dealt with first and what can be left until later

• Agree a method of ensuring that your plan is kept up to date and contains details of current personnel and risks

• Plan for worst case scenarios.