Business continuity when something bad happens
Discussion
Hi Everyone,
I wanted to get some peoples views and experiences of this. I currently run an eBay business and as things get busier and eBay's tolerance for any errors tighter it makes me question if I have enough or any safe guards in place if something goes wrong.
I guess an easy example of what I mean is the fire that happens in the warehouse for ASOS. I think this affected tens of thousands of orders and the idea of something like that happeneing for an eBay business doesn't bare thinking about.
I started to juggle ideas in my head that maybe I should get a small quantity stock of my main products in a seperate location in a container which would be enough to tie me over for a week, so in a worse case scenario I would get stock in via DHL/Fedex if I needed to.
This is turn lead me to think about the problems that would occur on eBay if you didn't have the stock to send out? Would eBay really give a crap if something like that happened regarding negative feedback or not being able to fullfill orders due to an issue outside your control?
Anything can happen, your warehouse could be burnt down, transhed, stock stolen, the list is endless really. I mean even something like computer systems going down for people who process thousands of orders a day.
Does anyone on here who runs are online retail business have any sort of plan in place for a bad situation or is it just me over thinking it.
Thanks
I wanted to get some peoples views and experiences of this. I currently run an eBay business and as things get busier and eBay's tolerance for any errors tighter it makes me question if I have enough or any safe guards in place if something goes wrong.
I guess an easy example of what I mean is the fire that happens in the warehouse for ASOS. I think this affected tens of thousands of orders and the idea of something like that happeneing for an eBay business doesn't bare thinking about.
I started to juggle ideas in my head that maybe I should get a small quantity stock of my main products in a seperate location in a container which would be enough to tie me over for a week, so in a worse case scenario I would get stock in via DHL/Fedex if I needed to.
This is turn lead me to think about the problems that would occur on eBay if you didn't have the stock to send out? Would eBay really give a crap if something like that happened regarding negative feedback or not being able to fullfill orders due to an issue outside your control?
Anything can happen, your warehouse could be burnt down, transhed, stock stolen, the list is endless really. I mean even something like computer systems going down for people who process thousands of orders a day.
Does anyone on here who runs are online retail business have any sort of plan in place for a bad situation or is it just me over thinking it.
Thanks
It's always good to think about it - all big companies have one and they aren't too expensive to do, so it makes sense.
A cheapo laptop, wireless dongle and (as you suggested) an off-site shipping container or lock-up (even a relative's back bedroom) with a stock to last the duration of your supplier's lead time (or gap between shipments if you do it that way) will cover you in 99.99% of eventualities. Obviously there's a cashflow implication there but the sums aren't horrendously complicated to work out whether it makes sense for you to do it.
A cheapo laptop, wireless dongle and (as you suggested) an off-site shipping container or lock-up (even a relative's back bedroom) with a stock to last the duration of your supplier's lead time (or gap between shipments if you do it that way) will cover you in 99.99% of eventualities. Obviously there's a cashflow implication there but the sums aren't horrendously complicated to work out whether it makes sense for you to do it.
My online business is probably small scale compared to most, but my main product line and my own accessories for that product line are stocked in three different locations (two fulfilment warehouses and some at home). I can buy my main products from at least two separate suppliers at the same rates so if I have issues with one warehouse I have stock in the other, and/or at home. It works very fluently. Most of my other lesser sold products are shipped directly by the suppliers.
All of my systems are web-based so can be accessed from any computer, any where. That said if my website software (Opencart) fails for any reason then I will have no orders coming through, no real back up for that.
The thing that concerns me the most, and hopefully you've thought of it too before I worry you
is that if anything happens to me then orders will not be fulfilled as I'm a "one man band". No one knows my log ins, systems, nothing. Maybe I will write some processes and a "emergency" pack next week just in case anything happens to me!
All of my systems are web-based so can be accessed from any computer, any where. That said if my website software (Opencart) fails for any reason then I will have no orders coming through, no real back up for that.
The thing that concerns me the most, and hopefully you've thought of it too before I worry you
is that if anything happens to me then orders will not be fulfilled as I'm a "one man band". No one knows my log ins, systems, nothing. Maybe I will write some processes and a "emergency" pack next week just in case anything happens to me!MrSparks said:
My online business is probably small scale compared to most, but my main product line and my own accessories for that product line are stocked in three different locations (two fulfilment warehouses and some at home). I can buy my main products from at least two separate suppliers at the same rates so if I have issues with one warehouse I have stock in the other, and/or at home. It works very fluently. Most of my other lesser sold products are shipped directly by the suppliers.
All of my systems are web-based so can be accessed from any computer, any where. That said if my website software (Opencart) fails for any reason then I will have no orders coming through, no real back up for that.
The thing that concerns me the most, and hopefully you've thought of it too before I worry you is that if anything happens to me then orders will not be fulfilled as I'm a "one man band". No one knows my log ins, systems, nothing. Maybe I will write some processes and a "emergency" pack next week just in case anything happens to me!
All in all I think your covered however I do have a back up for the one thing you don't haha. I had the same thought process as you being a one man band myself and with that I trained up my wife and I also wrote a "procedure" document stating how to do everything including all the system I use etc. When I used to work in the finance sector (PAYE) I used to do this alot for many big corporations; it was required for audit purposes to have proper written and signed of procedures in places. All of my systems are web-based so can be accessed from any computer, any where. That said if my website software (Opencart) fails for any reason then I will have no orders coming through, no real back up for that.
The thing that concerns me the most, and hopefully you've thought of it too before I worry you
is that if anything happens to me then orders will not be fulfilled as I'm a "one man band". No one knows my log ins, systems, nothing. Maybe I will write some processes and a "emergency" pack next week just in case anything happens to me!Great topic, one that is so oft overlooked; until it's a problem of course.
It's often overlooked as at first glance it can seem quite daunting to comprehend what to do first. In essence, it's a about risk. From a retailers perspective, if it goes wrong, how long can you afford for it to go wrong before your turnover and reputation are harmed. If your tolerances are high, you can worry and plan less. If your tolerances are low, then have a robust, practiced plan in place.
It's often overlooked as at first glance it can seem quite daunting to comprehend what to do first. In essence, it's a about risk. From a retailers perspective, if it goes wrong, how long can you afford for it to go wrong before your turnover and reputation are harmed. If your tolerances are high, you can worry and plan less. If your tolerances are low, then have a robust, practiced plan in place.
Had to do a multi site contingency plan for the main marketing function for a large retail bank - such fun!
Once I started digging it was pretty evident how easily a company function could fail and how little planning there was in place! I had to plan for epidemic, services failure, transportation issues, bomb threats, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, destruction of premises, cyber attacks etc, failure of servers, death of staff!
I actually had to calculate how many people could die on mass in the company's marketing department before it would affect the company's marketing!
You seem to have most of it accounted for a small business. As you are a one man band you need someone reliable who can take your place in the instance of you not being able - someone with access to files, banking, procedures etc means if you get rushed to hospital then your business doesn't get impacted to much.
Process documents are definitely worth keeping (on paper and digital!) and let your back up know where they are kept.
Also think about potential marketing messages / channels to use if you encounter issues. If things go wrong then customers will be considerably more understanding if you let them know there will be a 5 day delay due to a warehouse fire etc, apologise for the delay and also give them a 10% discount on the next purchase.
Once I started digging it was pretty evident how easily a company function could fail and how little planning there was in place! I had to plan for epidemic, services failure, transportation issues, bomb threats, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, destruction of premises, cyber attacks etc, failure of servers, death of staff!
I actually had to calculate how many people could die on mass in the company's marketing department before it would affect the company's marketing!
You seem to have most of it accounted for a small business. As you are a one man band you need someone reliable who can take your place in the instance of you not being able - someone with access to files, banking, procedures etc means if you get rushed to hospital then your business doesn't get impacted to much.
Process documents are definitely worth keeping (on paper and digital!) and let your back up know where they are kept.
Also think about potential marketing messages / channels to use if you encounter issues. If things go wrong then customers will be considerably more understanding if you let them know there will be a 5 day delay due to a warehouse fire etc, apologise for the delay and also give them a 10% discount on the next purchase.
For those planning, do everyone a favour and let the people know who are mentioned in the plans.
I found out from one client when I received an 8:15AM call telling me that they had just evacuated due to fire... Fortunately it was small, confined to a light and the fire brigade were on scene very quickly so little disruption was caused. Still the call informing me that I was one of the action points was something of a surprise.
I found out from one client when I received an 8:15AM call telling me that they had just evacuated due to fire... Fortunately it was small, confined to a light and the fire brigade were on scene very quickly so little disruption was caused. Still the call informing me that I was one of the action points was something of a surprise.
Maybe you should look at an online store and Amazon as well as Ebay.
As you say consider spliting your warehouse as well.
Really you need to do cost/benefit for each mitigation based on the risks.
There will be some low hanging fruit and some more costly stuff. You can own the risk, transfer it or insure it as needed.
Though as they say, no risk, no reward.
As you say consider spliting your warehouse as well.
Really you need to do cost/benefit for each mitigation based on the risks.
There will be some low hanging fruit and some more costly stuff. You can own the risk, transfer it or insure it as needed.
Though as they say, no risk, no reward.
I had a problem like this, but fortunately it wasn't as bad as it could have been. My E-commerce business was running only through taking Paypal payments, then one Sunday afternoon Paypal email me to let me know my account has been suspended.
Turns out I had another PP account almost 10 years ago, from which I used to buy stuff on Ebay that I had forgotten about so my income stream had been cut off essentially. Luckily I was in the process of setting up a merchant account through another payment gateway so I wasn't too badly affected.
If I hadn't had the merchant account in place then I could have gone up to a month with no sales revenue from my website, seems a silly thing but it's something that I had never considered and could have cut off my revenue completely.
Hey ho, started up in my spare bedroom and had no plan of action, doing this for almost a year has taught me a few things.
Turns out I had another PP account almost 10 years ago, from which I used to buy stuff on Ebay that I had forgotten about so my income stream had been cut off essentially. Luckily I was in the process of setting up a merchant account through another payment gateway so I wasn't too badly affected.
If I hadn't had the merchant account in place then I could have gone up to a month with no sales revenue from my website, seems a silly thing but it's something that I had never considered and could have cut off my revenue completely.
Hey ho, started up in my spare bedroom and had no plan of action, doing this for almost a year has taught me a few things.
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