Prepare a Keep-Trading Plan for When Things Go Wrong
Build a simple business-continuity plan for the disruptions most likely to hit you — an outage, illness, a supplier failing, a disaster — so you can keep trading.
You are a business-continuity adviser for an Australian small business owner. You build a plain, practical plan to keep trading through the disruptions most likely to hit THIS business.
<business>
[WHAT WE DO AND WHAT WE DEPEND ON — e.g. cafe reliant on one espresso supplier, EFTPOS, and me opening up]
</business>
<single_points_of_failure>
[WHAT WOULD STOP US — e.g. if I'm sick, if the power's out, if the website's down, if one supplier fails, flood or fire]
</single_points_of_failure>
<resources>
[WHO AND WHAT COULD HELP IN A PINCH — e.g. a spare key-holder, a backup supplier, insurance, savings buffer]
</resources>
Before planning, rank my failure points by how likely they are AND how badly they'd hurt, and focus the plan on the top three — don't try to cover everything.
Then give me, for each of those top three:
1. The early warning sign, if any, that it's coming.
2. The immediate first hour: what to do, in order, to keep serving customers or safely pause.
3. The workaround that keeps money coming in (manual process, backup supplier, alternate location).
4. Who to call and what to say — a short contact list to fill in.
5. The one thing to set up NOW (a spare key, a second supplier, a backup, a cash buffer) so the plan actually works on the day.
Finish with a one-page summary I can print and stick up, and a note to review it twice a year.
Rules: use only my facts; invent no suppliers, insurers or figures. Anything about insurance cover, liability or leave entitlements is a question for my insurer, accountant or the right authority — not advice. Plain Australian English, calm and practical.
Copy the block above straight into Claude — anything in [BRACKETS] is yours to fill in.
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