TRANSCRIPT
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Leon Delaney.
2CC Radio Canberra
Subject: Small business disaster preparedness.
Leon Delaney
Apparently over the last 5 years, there have been 13 declared natural disaster catastrophes. So says the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, good afternoon.
Bruce Billson
Leon, great to be with you and the capital listeners of 2CC.
Leon Delaney
I regret to inform you that you've got your maths wrong. It's not 13, it’s 14, because you've left out the 2019 Rugby League Grand Final.
Bruce Billson
Look, you got me there. In terms of disaster preparedness, I think people were maybe thinking about contingencies on how to get home on a scooter after they celebrated victory, but no, thank you, I stand corrected.
Leon Delaney
You've written about the need for small business operators and owners in particular, to be prepared for the impacts of natural disaster catastrophes, especially since like seem to be happening more frequently these days. It's one of those things when they occur, the first thought is for members of the community – families, mums and dads and their kids, and what it means for them.
We don't always think about the business impacts straight away, do we?
Bruce Billson
No, and I guess one of the things that I try to bring forward Leon, is that it's so often small and family business leaders who are also community leaders. So, even in their own time of need, they're often thinking about others, not always thinking about themselves, and as we were highlighting, maybe not putting a little bit of time in advance to deal with how they might respond to something, if things go wrong and their business is knocked off track.
Leon Delaney
You've got a list of handy suggestions. In fact, you've got a checklist. I mean, you've always got a checklist for everything haven’t you Bruce?
Bruce Billson
It’s funny you should say that. What we've found with time poor small businesses is the last thing they want is a great large wad of pages when we can turn things into really positive action steps.
You might remember you and I talked about cybersecurity tips for small business and how you can get something that looks like a senate inquiry report for guidance. Now a time-poor small business isn't going to wade through that, they want an answer to the simple question - what is it you want me to do?
So our checklist is there, mindful that only 1 in 4 small businesses have a current business continuity plan, that's the slightly more funky version of the checklists where the business thinks about what happens if there are aspects of the business that are compromised, either by a natural disaster, some issue that knocks the business off course. Or in some cases Leon, it's a difficult conversation to have, what happens if it’s a health event, or something happens to the business owner themselves? Where does that leave themselves and the livelihoods that depend on them?
Leon Delaney
Not all disasters are community wide, some of them a very personal, aren’t they?
Bruce Billson
They are, and that's something that we see at times, the most challenging of moments for business owners and operators, as their identities are often so interwoven into their business, that not only when they're not able to engage is that a big personal challenge for them and their sense of self, but you take them out, they may well be the haymaker, the breadwinner in that enterprise and the enabler of a number of other livelihoods, including their own families.
The business is challenged by the fact that they are not well, a health episode occurs, or as we touch on in the paper, a natural disaster that has an enormous impact on themselves perhaps directly, or on the customers that they rely upon who move into a different mode of just getting by and looking how to recover, maybe not thinking about that business relationship that they've had for some time.
Leon Delaney
You've also pointed out that it's not always just the immediate impact of the disaster. Obviously, if there's something like a flood and the shop is full of water that's a very immediate impact, but after the water recedes, a business might be attempting to trade in an environment where there are no customers. What do you do about that?
Bruce Billson
Well, we've seen this is a challenge that a number of the federally led disaster recovery plans in our view haven't taken enough into account and it's a slightly challenging word I apologise, but it's the one the emergency services people use themselves. You might not be in the ‘fire scar’, but everyone you work with is. So, you and I might run a crop-dusting business and all of a sudden, the crop in the region is taken out, we've got nothing to dust.
So while our planes might be fine, the prospects of us moving on with the business and having a livelihood, that’s just simply not there. We see this even in agriculture and primary industry where the impact of the natural disaster has an immediate consequence, but it might mean Leon, that it's some seasons before any productive output is possible. And it takes a longer-term plan to get back on track and to get into a productive mode again.
Leon Delaney
I liked the idea of having a crop-dusting business. I mean, are we using open cockpit biplanes? They are the fun ones.
Bruce Billson
Tally-ho would be the word of the day!
Even with transport operators, we see this. We even saw it with some of the marine aquaculture businesses when you know the river systems were compromised down near Bateman’s Bay and the like. That had an enormous impact and took some time for the water quality be of adequate quality that the Clyde River Oysters could get back in the market.
Now that wasn't immediately visible, but I remember talking with one of the producers down there, literally pulling their hair out saying look everyone thinks this has gone through in terms of consequence, we're still living it because further up the catchment, the vegetation had been damaged and there was sediment and impurities in the river system. They had quite a challenge, not just meeting those immediate requirements, but ferrying - excuse the pun - water samples in and out of Sydney, to try and get the green light for the water quality.
So, we just think a more rounded approach to appreciating the consequences of natural disasters is important, but also highlighting for business owners that something could happen to them, and that planning for what to do next is a very important step.
Leon Delaney
So, what are some of the simple steps that business operators can take to help be better prepared?
Bruce Billson
You're provoking me Leon to refer to my checklist, so thank you very much for that.
But have basic contact details, not only key customers, your team, your staff, your key advisors, and people that can really help the business tick over when your communications links might be down.
So many businesses are encouraged to save data to the cloud, well what happens when the comms network is down or something happens to your technology, where is that vital information? Who are you going to ring? What are the contact details of your insurers and other key people that are important to the recovery process? Can you work somewhere else? Can you get access to your online accounts, your accounting software, and those sorts of things?
So in that checklist we are just pointing out some really simple things that might not be front of mind when confronted with the impact of a disaster. It's something that's really handy to have when you're thinking about okay, what's next, how can I get back on track? We know the therapeutic benefit of people surviving a disaster and then being able to do something constructive to get them back on track again.
Leon Delaney
Absolutely. Now, if anybody wants some more information and advice about being better prepared for natural disaster catastrophes or even personal catastrophes, where should they look?
Bruce Billson
Possibly the world's greatest website Leon, www.asbfeo.gov.au
Go through to the disaster preparation tab or have a look at what else is on there. Our www is for small business people, a website worth watching. Great resources on there that we hope are helpful.
Leon Delaney
Thanks so much for chatting today.
Bruce Billson
Take care Leon, thank you.
Leon Delaney
That's Bruce Billson, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.