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Business Continuity: Business as usual. Even after a disaster. Ten steps every business should take to prepare for a disaster.

1. Assess your risk - both internally and externally.
What disasters will most likely impact your business? Though major disasters dominate the headlines, most business interruptions are caused by everyday events, such as power outages, human error and technology failure. Assess exposure to more commonplace risks.

2. Assess your critical business functions.
Evaluate and document how your company functions and determine what processes, employees, equipment and materials are critical for your daily operations such as billing, payroll and service fulfillment. Determine a process for restoring them in the event of an interruption.

3. Plan for an alternative site.
What would you do if your building was inaccessible tomorrow? Where would you go to continue basic business operations? Review your site requirements and determine a plan for recovery. Alternate site options include your home, a branch or second location, the site of a similar business, or use of a vendor that provides mobile recovery.

4. Consider supply chain preparedness.
According to recent surveys, less than half of American businesses have disaster recovery or business continuity plans in place to maintain supply chain logistics in the event of a disaster. Talk to your key vendors and suppliers about their recovery plans. Develop relationships with alternate vendors in case your primary vendors experience an interruption.

5. Appoint a crisis manager and develop an emergency management plan.
Planning what to do after a disaster is just as important as what to do beforehand. A crisis manager and sound emergency management plan helps facilitate a smooth transition between normal business operations and catastrophe response.

6. Back up your data.
In today's highly technical economy, information is more valuable than ever. Having an automated, daily back-up system for important data is crucial. Make sure to store your data in an offsite, safe and secure location, preferably 50 miles or more from your site.

7. Create an employee, vendor and key client communication plan.
Collect a 24-hour phone tree for all employees and their spouses or closest relatives. Make sure your employees know ahead of time how to exchange or obtain information should standard lines of communication fail. Also, compile a list of your critical clients and vendors and store it in an offsite location. Determine a process for contacting them should your systems go down.

8. Assemble an emergency kit.
An emergency or disaster recovery kit should contain items such as fresh water, non-perishable food, flashlights, extra batteries, battery-powered AM/FM radio, first aid kit and copies of important documents and records. For a complete list of recommended items, visit www.Ready.gov, an emergency preparedness site from the Department of Homeland Security.

9. Take a look at your insurance coverage.
Is your insurance coverage adequate? Sit down with your agent to assure that you are insured for potential risks. Make sure you keep photos of your building, equipment lists and policy information stored in a safe and secure offsite location.

10. Test your plan.
Make sure your plan is workable - test yearly and update the plan as necessary. Make sure to re-educate employees when any changes to the plan are made.