Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Stephen Cenatiempo.
2CC Canberra
Subject: Small business natural disaster preparedness and resilience
Stephen Cenatiempo
Bruce Billson is now the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman and he says that we can all help small businesses bounce back from disaster. And we've seen plenty of businesses affected by natural disasters in recent times, particularly here in this region, too. Bruce Billson joins us on the line. G’day Bruce.
Bruce Billson
Stephen, great to be with you and a capital day for your listeners as well.
Stephen Cenatiempo
It is a lovely day, well at this stage, out there. Businesses have gone through a tough time over the last three or four years for any number of reasons and I know that you've been looking into this. The scariest thing that comes out of your research is that only one in four businesses are prepared for this kind of stuff.
Bruce Billson
Yeah, it was not a surprise. I guess I was hoping it would be higher. But given what you described, all the pressure on businesses, COVID, natural disasters, supply chain, difficulty getting staff. Now we've got inflation and other challenges that are really front of mind for what's a full book anyway for a small business owner, I wasn't entirely surprised that only one in four actually had a disaster plan or what the funk-meisters might call a business continuity plan that anticipated something really might knock the business off course and even knock me, the business owner, off course.
What am I going to do? What's my contingencies? Where is my vital information? How can I maybe take steps to mitigate against risk? Who do I need to call? Where's all that go-to material that will help me navigate that impact, that disaster, as best I can and be as well-place as I can to recover on the other side.
Stephen Cenatiempo
Now I want to talk about some of the structural things that can be done to try and fix this situation. But you've also said that each and every one of us as members of the general public can play a role in helping small businesses recover. Talk us through that first.
Bruce Billson
Yeah, it's interesting. When we did our research, we found where there was strong community connectedness, even among the business community, a socio-commercial capital, we called it. There was that network, that peer support, the sharing of wisdom and experience was really a high priority and highly valued in communities where there was a natural disaster risk. They looked to the ‘Mr Miyagis’, those that had been through it before, and thought, you know, how did they tackle it? What did they do when a flood alert came up? They move their key stock, they do certain things with the way their workplace is structured, these sorts of things. And even the communities coming back, because at the end of the day, in a recovery phase, there's no substitute for customers, Stephen. You need the till ticking over, you need customers to come back. So that was a really key point.
Areas where the businesses sort of, you know, a bit wary of each other or felt they were a bit of an island and suspicious of other businesses, they were less well placed and recovered less well than those where there was this connectedness, this peer-to-peer support.
Stephen Cenatiempo
We all talk a big game when it comes to shopping locally, but we actually need to put our money where our mouth is so to speak. Now, let's talk about some of those structural things. You've talked about creating a federal, state and local government business hub to help businesses recover. I imagine you’re talking about a one-stop shop so that, for instance, when you’ve got to get your phones reconnected or get your bank account sorted, one place we can go and get all of that stuff done?
Bruce Billson
Yeah, that's it. And we saw it really pioneered very well in the Bega Valley when the fires went through there. There was a really good leadership example provided by the community where all of those agencies, organisations, businesses, even not-for-profit community organisations that wanted to help actually came together in one spot. So, if you and I or others that have been impacted have so much on our mind and it felt so overwhelming, we didn't need to go hunting around for who could help.
And so, we think that's an excellent model and that should be known in advance so people know where that hub is and they can and gravitate towards it and people wanting to help know that's the place to be. But it needs to be supported, in our view, by a tell-us-once triaging system. You know, once you're in that environment government can do a great job, we know how to handle information thoughtfully and sensitively. Give the information that's needed, what's happened, what's needed by that business, how can people be most helpful and then be guided towards those that are best placed to meet those needs without the impacted business owner having to tell their story over and over and over again. That’s not only retraumatising, it's not only incredibly frustrating when they're wanting to get on with whatever they can do to improve their circumstance, it's terribly inefficient as well. So that some of the ideas we put forward.
Stephen Cenatiempo
One of the things that really struck me, and it wasn't something that I'd considered before, but a lot of businesses will need to go and get a loan to get them through after a disaster. But if a flood is going through and taking all your records out, there aren't too many banks that are going to lend you money unless they know what your situation is.
You've come up with an idea of an opt-in ‘My Business Record’ system.
Bruce Billson
We thought is there some way which would allow a small business to bring together and digitally store all the relevant government-held and other vital information that is really crucial to their business. A lot of businesses have their accounting information in the cloud these days. Well, that's terrific. And that's something that's a plus. And we're very cloud connected as a business community in Australia.
But Government has got a lot of other information that's vital to that business. And when you're trying to, not only apply for finance perhaps as a loan, but also access support programs that are available through government. The government is already holding a lot of that relevant information. They know what your last BAS return was like. They know that your business has been operating because you've been meeting compliance and reporting obligations. Bring all that together. Make it easy. And that's a constructive step we think government should be considering, an opt-in ‘My Business Record’.
Stephen Cenatiempo
And you also think that government can play a role in getting volunteer work involved in the recovery process?
Bruce Billson
We've watched this and we've seen this before and I suppose the experience that came out of us talking directly with people firsthand in over three dozen communities that have been disaster impacted in recent years. They were describing, particularly to the business community, so many of those business community leaders in regional areas are also leaders and active contributors in other ways.
So, you know, they'll be actively involved in the volunteer emergency services. They'll be actively involved in maybe the chambers of commerce, the sporting clubs and sporting organisations. And they're also very keen overall to support their team members, their staff, to also make their contribution. I don't think any business would begrudge releasing some staff for a couple of days for a response to an emergency.
But when that starts becoming weeks and weeks, that's an enormous impact on everybody involved. And we think there's a place to encourage that kind of volunteerism and to encourage businesses to release team members that can make a great contribution by actually getting some reimbursed for lost wages where they need to backfill with other staff. And to recognise that for a small business of maybe three or four people, you lose two people for, you know, the fire service for a couple of weeks as they're not only dealing with emergencies in their own immediate community, but helping beyond, some acknowledgment of that and some financial support, we think would be a wise way of nourishing that volunteer contribution.
Stephen Cenatiempo
All great common-sense ideas. Bruce, always a pleasure.
Bruce Billson
Fab to be with you and your listeners.
Stephen Cenatiempo
Bruce Billson, the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. He's one of the best in the business when it comes to dealing with small business. He knows his stuff.And that report, if you want to have a look at it, is available on the Ombudsman's website, so check that out.
ENDS