Business Continuity
Planner

Planning & Organization Tools

A structured planning tool for mapping short, medium, and long-term
responses to business disruption.

Planning for What You Hope Won't Happen

Most leaders plan for growth. Fewer plan for contraction - and the ones who haven't thought it through tend to make reactive decisions under pressure that cost more than the original disruption. Contingency planning is not pessimism. It is the difference between a disruption that stalls you for a quarter and one that ends the business.

The three time horizons here are deliberate. Short-term contingency covers the immediate response: cash, clients, team. Medium-term addresses the structural adjustments needed if the disruption lasts longer than expected. Long-term contingency is where most leaders stop short - it asks what changes permanently if conditions don't return to normal.

The hardest section is usually medium-term. Short-term plans feel urgent and get written. Long-term plans feel abstract enough to be comfortable. Medium-term requires sitting with the uncomfortable scenario of "what if this goes on for six months?" - which is precisely the planning that proves most valuable when the situation actually develops.

How to Use This Planner

Define a specific scenario before you write anything. "If business slows down" is not a useful trigger. "If revenue drops 30% for two consecutive quarters" is. Name the disruption you are planning for, then write into each horizon from that starting point.
Short-term (0-3 months): Focus on cash runway, client retention, and essential operations. What do you do in the first weeks to stabilize?
Medium-term (3-12 months): Address structural changes - team size, service mix, cost base. What do you restructure if the disruption is sustained?
Long-term (12+ months): Revisit your core business model. What becomes permanent? What do you stop? What new direction does the disruption open?
Date the plan and revisit it. A contingency plan written once and never reviewed is a document, not a plan. Schedule a quarterly check-in to assess whether the triggers have changed.