What happens to your business if something happens to you? If you don't have any clue, then you obviously do not have a COOP in place. Basically, COOP stands for 'Continuity of Operations Plan.' Governments around the world have these COOP plans in place and any business owner who cares about his or her employees and the operation itself should also have them in place.

How Does a COOP Help Your Business?

Do you know what tomorrow will bring? Are you completely certain that you will wake up tomorrow and everything will be as it was today? Do you know that there won't be a fire in your house or that you won't be in a car accident while driving to your business? As you can see from these simple questions, it is almost impossible to predict every detail within life. Sure, none of us really plans on bad things happening to us. But they do, and they happen all of the time all over the world.

When you develop and employ a COOP within your business, the people who are working for you will know precisely what to do in the event that something happens to you. Depending on the size of your business, this can be crucial to keeping your business operating in your absence.

Does your top employee know exactly what to do if you're not there? How long will he or she know what to do? In other words, if you are seriously injured in a car accident and you are in a coma for two months, will your business still manage to keep operating? Will your employees know how to pay the bill, order supplies, and deal with the other businesses that you deal with on a regular basis?

Yes, most small businesses can survive a week or two without the leader of the company there, but that is not really what a COOP is for. A COOP is for those times when the head of the business, or an entire section of the leadership core is unavailable for any reason.

Think of a Worst-Case Scenario

Sure, the odds are that you will never need to implement a COOP for your business, but just remember, if something does happen, will you care about the survival of your business? Most of us would, whether we have family who will rely on that business even when we're no longer around to run it.

Sit down and think of the worst case scenario for your business. Even if you have a partner or senior manager, does he or she know what to do in the event that something happens to you? If not, then you need a COOP. It's often best to rely on the professional experience of business consultants when it comes to developing a COOP. You may miss something in your plans and by the time you need to implement it, it will be too late.