Why humour matters when helping small businesses build resilience

Let’s be honest…. Most people didn’t go into business because they were wildly excited about business continuity plans, cash flow forecasting, cyber risks or backup power options.

I know I didn’t!

People go into business (especially small business) because they love the thing:

• The café owner loves serving great coffee and remembering customers’ orders before they say them.
• The plumber loves solving problems and unblocking pipes before a small leak becomes a very expensive indoor water feature.
• The landscaper loves transforming spaces.
• The salon owner loves seeing how a client walks out feeling taller, brighter and more themselves.

People start businesses because they care deeply about their craft, their customers and creating something of their own.

The “boring business stuff”? Usually not the dream.

And yet…

To stay in business, we need to understand the boring stuff.

1. We need to know what’s critical to keep operating.
2. We need to understand the risks, pressures and weak spots.
3. We need to take small steps to protect what matters.

Because doing (small) business is getting harder.

Not just extreme weather disasters… because we’re currently also experiencing: Power outages. Staff shortages. Technology issues. Cost pressures. Road closures. Supply chain disruptions. Economic uncertainty. Illness. Cyber attacks. Changing customer behaviour.

The list feels… endless.

Sometimes resilience conversations can accidentally make business owners feel like they’re being handed one more overwhelming thing to do.

Which is exactly why (where sensitively appropriate) humour matters.

Humour helps people engage with hard things

Humour is not about making light of trauma, loss or serious disruption. That matters.

But humour can help people engage with difficult, boring, complex or uncomfortable topics. Because humour lowers the barrier.

It makes information feel more human.

• More relatable.
• More memorable.
• More accessible.

It creates permission to say: Yep… that happened to me too.

Because if resilience education feels like eating dry cardboard, people won’t come back for seconds.

It reduces the feeling of being judged for not having everything sorted. And importantly for busy business owners it can make learning feel like less of a chore.

We need to stop teaching resilience like a compliance manual

Many small business owners are already overwhelmed.

They are doing sales, payroll, rostering, customer service, marketing, operations, cleaning, admin, HR and trying to remember where they put that invoice from three weeks ago.

If resilience support arrives wrapped in jargon, complexity and 72-page documents…

…it often ends up exactly where you’d expect.

Unread.

Not because business owners don’t care. Because they don’t have capacity. Or because it doesn’t feel relevant enough yet. Or because the delivery style simply doesn’t connect.

Humour can help translate serious concepts into something practical and sticky.

• It helps people remember.
• It helps people see themselves in the scenario.
• It helps people take action.

Sometimes a laugh is what opens the door to a meaningful conversation about risk, preparedness or staying operational during disruption.

Small steps matter more than perfection

At Resilient Ready, we’re big believers that resilience isn’t built through overwhelm… It’s built through small steps. Tiny actions. Real conversations. Practical improvements embedded into everyday business.

Because preparedness doesn’t need to start with a 40-page plan.

Sometimes it starts with:

• “What would happen if your EFTPOS went down on your busiest day?”
• “What would happen if your key staff member couldn’t come to work for two weeks?”
• “What’s the one thing your business absolutely cannot operate without?”

Serious questions. But they don’t always need serious delivery. Sometimes humour, storytelling, lived experience and relatable scenarios help people lean into learning instead of avoiding it.

Doing disaster differently

We’ve long believed we need to do disaster preparedness and resilience differently.

• Not softer.
• Not less rigorous.

Differently…

• More human.
• More practical.
• More connected to how people actually learn, work and behave.

Because business owners are not sitting around thinking: “You know what sounds fun? Operational dependency mapping.”

But they are thinking about customers, revenue, staff, reputation, keeping the lights on and surviving another tough month.

That’s our entry point.

Meet people where they are. Make learning useful. Make it relatable. And yes… sometimes make it funny.

Because when done thoughtfully, humour doesn’t dilute resilience.
It helps build it.

Resilience doesn’t have to be boring to be important

And if a laugh helps a business owner take one practical step that protects their livelihood, staff, customers or community…

…that’s worth taking seriously.

Ready to lead?

If you’re a council, industry body, or regional leader looking to strengthen business resilience, this is your opportunity to take a proactive, connected approach that works.

Because the future belongs to communities that are not just prepared – but ready, together.

Let’s connect!