Disaster Recovery Journal

have a reasonably good BC/DR plan for your home-based business.

Are You Protecting Your
Home Business?

By THEJENDRA BS

As home PCs and Internet access have become more and more widespread, the number of home-based businesses has also increased enormously over the last few years. Today it is very easy for many entrepreneurs to run their businesses entirely from home simply because it is possible, as well as cost effective. But working from home is not without its dangers as it brings various major and minor risks not usually associated with working in a regular office.

However, as soon as the words “ business continuity” and “disaster recovery” (BC/DR) are mentioned, most home business owners start imagining pictures of a costly and complex rocket science that is only applicable for large companies.

Plenty of home-based businesses and
tiny organizations live under the miscon-
ception that BC/DR activities are beyond
their expertise or affordability. These mis-
conceptions frequently cause many small
businesses to lose their data, equipment,
or even ruin their business completely for
trivial reasons.

1.;Keep;your;business;materials;safe;from children;and;pets.;Your;child;can;easily ruin;all;your;business;documents;for;his or;her;coloring;project;or;paper;airplanes. For;example,;the;famous;scientist Thomas;Edison;lost;hundreds;of;his research;papers;due;to;a;fire;accidentally triggered;by;his;pet;dog.;Have;a;small;fire extinguisher;handy.

2.;When;working;from;home;use;a;separate room;if;possible.;Keep;all;work;documents, computers,;diskettes,;CDs,;phones,;etc. in;a;room;that;can;be;locked.;Ensure;the business;room;is;fire-proof,;water-proof, pest-proof,;and;child-proof.

3.;Do;not;load;games;and;other;fancy;stuff like;free;screensavers;on;your;business computers;at;home.;Just;have;the essential;business;applications.;Freeware, shareware,;games,;etc.;can;cause;freak problems;and;virus;attacks.

4.;Learn;how;to;configure;your;Internet connection,;install;necessary;software,;anti-virus;programs,;etc.,;on;your;own.;Store all;CDs,;manuals,;and;license;keys;of;all software;safely.

5.;Take;the;help;of;professionals;and;vendors for;software;installations;you;are;not;sure about,;as;there;could;be;several;post-installation;settings;and;configurations.;Do not;use;old;and;outdated;software.;Keep upgrading;to;the;latest;versions;whenever and;wherever;possible.;Never;play;around with;software;settings;and;features;without knowing;the;consequences.

6.;Buy;a;reliable;back-up;device;and;back;up your;data;regularly.;Have;multiple;backups for;safety.;More;importantly,;learn;to;verify your;backups;and;how;to;restore;your;data.

7.;Have;a;print-out;of;all;important;phone numbers,;e-mail;IDs,;vendor;contacts,;etc. and;keep;it;updated;periodically.;Also;save all;important;numbers;on;your;computer, mobile,;and;e-mail;as;a;backup.

8.;Have;two;business;e-mail;IDs;if;possible, and;configure;e-mail;ID1;to;send;a;one-way copy;of;all;e-mails;to;e-mail;ID2;for;back-up purposes.;But;do;not;have;a;two-way;setup as;it;can;crash;the;mailbox;through;the ping-pong;effect.