Why your business resilience is our business

As Australia’s only social enterprise dedicated to building business resilience, we are in a unique position to advise, support and guide businesses of all sizes around how they can build their capabilities so they can be ready for anything.

To date, more than 400 businesses have already completed our innovative Business Community Resilience (BCR) Toolkit solution, which focuses on building resilience in all types of organisations within every community.

Custom-built with targeted delivery, our BCR Toolkit solution helps to  build knowledge in and collect data from local businesspeople – to enable every person in business to thrive in the good times and survive the bad.

So, what have we learnt so far?

That you don’t know what you don’t know!

For many businesses, this means they’re unaware of the gaps in their own knowledge and the risks they face as businesses operating in a disaster-prone climate.

In southern NSW, BCR Toolkit data revealed more than 90% of participating businesses were left reeling from the impact of multiple disasters in their region, and 88% felt the fallout from disasters had negatively impacted their livelihoods.

BCR Toolkit participants were not adequately prepared for disasters with 61% lacking a back-up of essential business information, 71% with no access to alternate power, 66% unable to operate without an internet connection, 69% had no crisis communications plan to reach and inform their customers, and 69% lacking a negative risk register.

In northern NSW it was a similar story. Furthermore, a large percentage of businesses in the north, which has been hard hit by relentless flooding and severe weather this year, did not know their disaster resilience roles and responsibilities (56%), did not allocate a budget for disaster resilience (86%), did not have frequent safety and preparedness discussions with staff (86%), and did not practice an evacuation plan (89%).

Interestingly, in the north 100% of businesses said they could not pack up their business in 10 minutes or less in the event of an emergency, compared to 63% in southern NSW.

The BCR Toolkit is a wonderful means for self-reflection, empowering businesses to identify their own gaps in knowledge and preparedness.

Typical BCR Toolkit customers include councils, government, corporates and industry bodies including business chambers – any organisation looking to build resilience across a community of people in business.

If this sounds like you, get in touch at [email protected]

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.