Attending the recent 2022 Disaster & Emergency Management Conference on the Gold Coast was the perfect place to share Resilient Ready’s Business Community Resilience (BCR) Toolkit solution.
And the Resilient Ready approach inspired plenty of discussion in a room full of emergency management leaders and change-makers from industry, corporate, government and volunteer agencies.
The numbers don’t lie
I like to use statistics to paint the picture – even if it can be pretty grim – around the impact of disasters on businesses globally. I share them as often as I can, because behind the numbers are real people, whose lives and livelihoods are disappearing:
- 40% of small businesses never reopen after a major disaster
- 80% of small businesses that do not re-open within 5 days, close within 2 years
What’s more, we know losing a business means we lose jobs, products and services within communities. But the impact doesn’t end there, it is far-reaching, upending lives through mental illness, suicide, homelessness, and domestic violence.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
The solution
In the past 12 months Resilient Ready has worked across 24 disaster-impacted local government areas in New South Wales and Queensland, upskilling more than 380 businesses to build their resilience and capabilities so they can stay in business, surviving and thriving.
We’ve done this through our customisable, scalable and highly relevant Business Community Resilience Toolkit solution, working with people on the ground to tailor the solution to fit the community.
We prepare participants to be ready for 80% of disaster impacts with only 20% of the effort. And we know our customised micro-learning approach works.
How? Because our communities are telling us it is having an impact:
The learnings and actions taken from the toolkit helped me reopen my business quickly when the 2022 floods hit.
Julia Foyster Tweed Real Food
Our business community is offered engaging, real-world experiences that are being presented by their peers.
Ryan Deebank Queanbeyan-Palerang Council
Why Resilient Ready?
As a social enterprise, Resilient Ready is focused on increasing business community capabilities that will save lives and livelihoods, and strengthen community networks and, ultimately, global wellbeing.
Giving back is in our DNA.
And that’s why we’re committed to building a new culture of preparedness and personal responsibility, and resilience to all-hazards disruptions.
We want businesses and organisations to be prepared, so they can be ready to help themselves and their communities when disaster strikes.
Are you ready to talk?
Resilient Ready is a social enterprise delivering innovative solutions to enable every organisation to thrive before, during and after disasters. To keep updated on news and current projects, sign up to our newsletter.
