Get your business ready for disasters – Business Continuity Planning resources

The Humanitarian Leadership Academy and Unilever have been working together to develop a pioneering programme to provide Business Continuity Planning (BCP) training to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines.

The BCP programme has one clear vision: in countries affected by disasters and crises, business leaders are equipped with knowledge and tools to strategically assess risk and develop contingency plans to continue business operations after an incident. Furthermore, these businesses are able to continue their role in the supply chain, providing much needed goods and services to the communities in which they operate.

The aim was to build the capacity of 1,000 business leaders and to accelerate pre-disaster planning and post-disaster rehabilitation in their communities. The training focused on building resilience of small-scale retailers in local supply chains, getting businesses back up and running as quickly as possible after a disaster, and contributing to enhanced livelihoods in vulnerable communities. The training started as a pilot in the Philippines and has been tailored for the type of disasters they often have to deal with: typhoons, earthquakes, and floods. However, it can be modified for any context and for any type of crisis.

Region:

Global

Themes:

BCP Business Continuity Business Continuity Planning disasters Guide Learn Learning Philippines Small Businesses typhoon Unilever Webinar

Useful Resources

Guide to Business Continuity Planning

Disaster Preparation Checklist

This short ‘how to’ guide will give you the basics on getting your business ready for any disaster.

Read the guide

Case study: Business Continuity Planning

Working together to get communities ready for crises

Read this case study about Business Continuity Planning in the Philippines

Read the case study

Free Online Course (1 hour)

Business Continuity Planning - Level 1

Learn the basics of Business Continuity Planning with this free online course.

Start the course

Webinar: Get your business ready for disasters (1 hour)

Read the BCP case study (longer version)

What people say about business continuity planning

“The BCP training helped. It gave us ideas on what to do during storms and emergencies. We need to monitor and be prepared. After the training I told my brother in law what we learned. We usually monitor if there is a storm coming and we will get everything ready– gasoline, food, canned goods, emergency light, etc.”

“I learned a lot during the training and I am also able to share that with other business owners.”

”The training is an eye-opener for us. We realised that we should not only just be focusing on income and earnings but we really have to take care of the business. Even if we are a small business, we feel that we are being given importance. We are more encouraged now to strive for the business to grow, to give back through community service and to share our learnings from the training.”

”The biggest challenge faced by MSMEs is how to pick themselves up after the hazard and how to establish resilience. We often underestimate the potential effects of hazards. What I learned from the training was that the biggest challenge really is knowing how to prepare and how to be resilient once the hazards become disasters.”

“The business continuity planning training opened my eyes to many things that I should prepare for to address disasters. Before BCP, I had a negative mentality and feared that my business will end after a disaster. But the training programme helped me find a solution.”