2020 saw the biggest disruption to our businesses, communities and lives for decades. But the coronavirus pandemic followed close on the heels of the Australian bushfires, the resources industry crash, massive floods, the Global Financial Crisis …
It seems that we no sooner get through one crisis, when another one comes along. And that is exactly what does happen, but we treat the good times as “normal” business conditions, and the crises as the abnormal times. Australian businesses will continue to be buffeted by crises, whether they be natural disasters, economic ups and downs, a family tragedy, or even a pandemic. Therefore, it is disingenuous to act as though the good times are “normal”, and act surprised when things go haywire. Small businesses are very vulnerable to these disruptions. Research shows that 40 percent of small businesses never reopen after a disaster, and another 25 percent, that do reopen, fail within a year.
Apart from the obvious impact on the business owners, their families and their employees, these failures have huge impacts on the wider community and delay all recovery efforts. But small business owners often find it difficult to designate time and resources for something like a disaster or an economic downturn that may or may not happen.
