JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2021 'VIEXI E &YWMRIWW Continuity Plan Lessons learned in 2020 Never has the need for having a business continuity plan (BCP) in place been clearer than in 2020. As sweeping changes were made to how people and businesses interact, many businesses found themselves scrambling to adapt. And many went away. According to Yelp, more than 80,000 businesses were permanently closed between March and August 2020. Over 75% of those were small businesses. The businesses that survived were able to adapt quickly and work hard. The smart survivors had business continuity plans that provided contingencies for multiple scenarios. These survivors also had business partners, such as Spry, to help them weather the storm. Spry is an Indiana-based brand optimization company. It not only survived 2020, but thrived because of its business continuity plan, as have many of its clients. Following is an interview with Jeff Williams, CEO, and Amy Baker, chief innovation officer, offering insights into Spry’s success in a difficult time. Let’s start with your business continuity plan. What had you done to prepare for a scenario like COVID-19? Jeff: “Well, I don’t think any of us could have imagined something as drastic as COVID. But we had taken a lot of time to consider what obstacles could arise for us and our clients, and worked to structure ourselves accordingly.” Please give an example. Amy: “Business continuity is all about redundancy – in technology, in processes, in personnel. For technology, the most obvious example is backup servers. We had total redundancy in our technology in case of emergency. “In addition, we aligned our multiple warehouse locations to handle logistics and distribution issues of any size. And finally, we cross-trained most of our people to be able to cover other duties should the need arise.” And you do the same for your customers? Amy: “One way we serve our customers is as an experienced resource for optimization and delivery of physical brand and operational supplies. We offer recommendations and implement elements such as fulfillment and distribution services, e-commerce access to supplies and the like.” Jeff: “We have a client that had been recognized as one of the ‘most efficient’ in their industry. They asked us to help them make their internal processes and distribution even more efficient. We were humbled that they felt confident we could help.” What would you say to companies that don’t have a BCP in place? Jeff: “Don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. But now is definitely a great time to start working on your business continuity plan. Think about what your business needs to keep running. “Imagine scenarios – fire, flood, tech loss, international epidemics – and how you can best prepare to handle them. Consider other possible revenue streams that might indemnify you if the worst should happen.” HB .IJJ ;MPPMEQW CEO Spry jeffw@sprybrands.com %Q] &EOIV 'LMIJ -RRSZEXMSR 3JƤGIV Spry amyb@sprybrands.com Spry is a Preferred Service Provider of the Indiana Bankers Association. 474 7,3;'%7)
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