Business continuity is an industry in of itself. It is particularly important for an executor dealing with the estate of a businessman or woman who has died. Maintaining the profitability of the business may be crucial to the livelihood of a number of people.

There are steps everyone should be taking to ensure that their business can continue after they die, whether they are self-employed, an employee or an owner/manager. These steps may include:

entering into a cross-option agreement; obtaining life insurance for key personnel; making sure that others have access to their passwords/details; keeping personal and work accounts separate; making sure sufficient instructions are left to allow others to fulfil their role; noting their passwords etc.

This is a topic that I raised when considering the issue of digital assets a while back.

The work does not stop when someone dies, though. I'll be putting some thought to a list of things an executor should do when an owner/manager of a business dies and hope to return to the topic shortly.