When the Power, Internet, or Cloud Goes Down: A One-Page Continuity Plan for Small Teams

Most small offices run on three things they do not control: utility power, a broadband connection, and a handful of cloud services. When any one of them fails, work stops — unless someone already knows exactly what to do. That someone is usually you.

A one-page business continuity plan — printed, posted, and reviewed every 90 days — is enough to keep a small team functional through the most common disruptions: power failure, internet loss, and cloud service outages. The plan works only if it is physical, visible, and pre-filled before an outage occurs. A team that can answer "what do we do right now?" within two minutes of an incident has an effective plan.

The structure below is a fill-in template. Print it. Post it near the front desk or break room. Every line with a blank should be completed before you walk out today.

Print this before anything goes wrong

Digital plans are useless during a cloud or power outage. This plan must exist on paper — laminated if possible — stored where every team member can find it without logging in to anything.

Who do we call? Build your contact tree now

Fill in these four contacts before an outage, not during one.

• IT support line: _________________________  |  24/7 availability: Y / N
• Internet service provider outage line: _________________________  |  Account number: _________
• Building or landlord emergency contact: _________________________
• Cloud service status pages (bookmark these now): Microsoft 365 — status.office.com  |  Google Workspace — workspace.google.com/status

Add a secondary contact for each role. A contact list with a single point of failure has the same problem as a network with one.

What do we do when the power goes out?

1. Determine whether the outage is building-wide or isolated to your suite. If isolated, call the landlord before calling the utility.
2. Report the outage to your utility provider. Most accept reports by automated phone line or text — keep your account number on this sheet.
3. If you have uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), they provide a short window to save open work and shut down equipment cleanly. Use that window to shut down, not to keep working.
4. Switch to mobile hotspot for any work that must continue (see internet section below).
5. Estimated restoration time: _________ hours. If longer, activate your remote-work protocol and notify clients.

What do we do when the internet drops?

First, confirm the problem is your ISP and not a local equipment issue. Restart your modem and router. If the outage continues after two minutes, call your ISP's outage line.

While you wait:

• Mobile hotspot owner: _________________________ (designate one person whose plan supports hotspot tethering)
• Cellular backup router login, if applicable: _________________________
• Limit hotspot use to email, VoIP calls, and small document edits. Video calls and large file transfers will exhaust a mobile data plan within an hour.

What do we do when a cloud service goes down?

Check the service's status page before opening a support ticket. Most brief platform outages resolve without action on your part.

• Locally cached copies of recent OneDrive or Google Drive files remain accessible offline — but only if sync was enabled before the outage. Confirm this setting is active for all users today.
• For email: switch to a mobile app connected via cellular data.
• For phone: confirm whether your VoIP system has a cellular failover or call-forwarding number. Write it here: _________________________

Where do backups and key documents live?

Complete this section with your IT team, then post the answers on the plan.

• Cloud backup location and login: _________________________
• Local or offline backup location (external drive, NAS): _________________________
• Last confirmed backup date: _________________________
• Critical documents stored offline (insurance certificates, lease, vendor contracts) — physical location: _________________________

How do we communicate with clients during an outage?

Clients in regulated industries — legal, healthcare, financial services — expect prompt, factual notice when service may be affected. Draft a short message now and store it with this plan.

Sample message: "We are experiencing a temporary service disruption affecting [phone / email / document access]. Our team is working to restore normal operations. For urgent matters, please reach us at [mobile number]. We will provide an update by [time]."

Assign one person to send all client communications during an outage. Write that person's name here: _________________________. Multiple team members sending conflicting updates creates a second problem on top of the first.

How do we keep this plan useful over time?

A continuity plan with outdated phone numbers is not a plan. Set a calendar reminder to review this sheet every 90 days and immediately after any staff change, phone number change, or IT infrastructure change. The review takes under 15 minutes.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need separate plans for each type of outage?

No. A single sheet organized by outage type — power, internet, cloud — is easier to use under pressure than a multi-document framework. The goal is a team member with no prior training picking it up and knowing what to do within 60 seconds.

How long will a mobile hotspot last for a small office?

That depends on your mobile plan's data cap and what the team uses it for. Reserve hotspot access for email, VoIP, and small document edits. Suspend video calls and large file transfers until the primary connection is restored.

What if both our cloud service and our cloud backup are down simultaneously?

This is exactly why the plan includes a local or offline backup location. At minimum, one recent copy of critical files should exist on a device or drive that requires no internet connection. Your IT team can help establish this baseline before you need it.

Who owns this plan?

Assign one person — typically the office manager or operations lead — as the plan owner. That person is responsible for the quarterly review, for updating contacts after any relevant change, and for confirming that printed copies are current and posted.

Should we actually test this before an outage?

Yes. A tabletop walkthrough — where the team talks through each scenario step by step without actually disrupting any systems — takes under an hour and consistently surfaces gaps in the contact tree or procedure steps that a paper review alone will miss.