Running a business comes with risks, but following the rules can help you minimize them and run things more smoothly. It’s important to know and follow the laws and rules that apply to your industry.
One crucial part of making sure you’re doing things right is called a Business Impact Analysis (BIA). This is like figuring out how much trouble your business could be in if something goes wrong, like an accident or a disaster.
You should do a BIA to:
Find where you’re not following the rules you should be (like the laws about keeping customer information private).
Make sure you’re keeping up with the rules about things like using computers safely and protecting your business from cyber problems.
Doing a BIA for Rules
There’s no one way to do a BIA – it’s different for each business. But to make sure you’re following the rules, your BIA should:
Find the most important things your business does.
Plan out how you would get things back to normal if something went wrong.
See which things depend on other things to work.
Track where sensitive information goes.
Figure out how bad things would be if something happened.
Sort out what things have to keep going to keep your business running.
Decide how long it would take to get things back to normal.
Think about what would happen to following the rules if something went wrong.
To start, you can ask tough questions like:
What do you need to fix right away to follow the rules better?
This helps find the things you need to work on fast. Some common problems are:
Not protecting computers from bad stuff.
Not writing down how information moves around.
Not being ready to stop problems before they happen.
Not keeping track of the things you’re doing to stop problems.
Do you have a plan for taking care of information that follows the rules?
A good plan for taking care of information means you’re keeping it safe and following all the rules about it.
How long will it take to fix the things you know are wrong?
It’s important to fix problems as soon as you can. If it takes too long, you might want to get help from experts who know about rules and computers.
Do you have someone who knows about rules and computers working for you?
If you have someone who’s an expert in rules and computers, they can help fix things.
Even if you have an expert, can they fix things quickly enough?
Having an expert is good, but they need to be able to fix things fast. If problems stick around too long, they could cause big problems like losing information or getting in trouble for not following rules.
Is it a good idea to get someone else to help you follow the rules?
Sometimes, it’s easier to have someone else who’s good at following rules help you out. They can fix things faster and help you avoid getting in trouble for not following rules.
Along with doing a BIA every year, you should also check for risks regularly. This helps you find problems that could make your business mess up. Doing a BIA and checking for risks make sure you’re doing everything right.
Checking for risks helps you find, guess, and put in order all the things that could go wrong with your business. Doing a BIA helps you figure out how to get things back to normal fast if something goes wrong, so your business doesn’t get hurt too much.
Setting Up Good Rules
Keeping up with rules can be hard if you’re on your own. If you don’t know everything about rules and things keep changing, you could get things wrong and put your business in danger. Working with experts who know all about rules and computers can help. We’re here to help you make sure you’re following rules without spending too much money. You can talk to us to find out if we’re the right fit for your business – no need to commit right away.
