Small Business Talk

The Podcast to Grow your Business Faster

Big Crisis: How We Can Prepare For It with Bronwyn Reid

Show Notes

Background

Bronwyn Reid is a small business enthusiast. She is a serial small business owner who has started three award-winning businesses from Regional Queensland, proving to herself (and others) that being a small business owner in a regional area is actually a valid lifestyle choice. Apart from starting and running businesses, Bronwyn was a part-time university lecturer for 12 years. Now, she can combine her two main drivers – education and small business success (particularly in regional areas), through her speaking, writing, workshops, training programs, and advocacy.

Bronwyn believes that every strong business deserves to have a secure future in a complicated world, and she helps them achieve that in three ways:

1. Step up, play a bigger game, and win contracts with larger organisations.
2. Build a plan that allows them to look forward and change with the times.
3. Release their invisible value and be the business that others recommend.

Accept The Risks of Small Business

Business owners are optimists.

We start our small businesses hopeful that they will become big businesses, but this also means that business owners are prone to ignoring the risks that come with starting a business. Instead of brushing these ideas off and saying “no, that won’t happen to me,” you need to accept that the risks are out there and some of them may find their way into your business.

Search For Hazards

Optimism will not save you from problems; preparing for them will.

If you start thinking about what could go wrong, are there ways to minimise the damage to your business and to you?

Cybersecurity risks are a big problem right now. Scams, hackers, and wiping of data are all issues you can plan for. Problems with your business partner could be another – have you planned what will happen with your business if you fall out? Have you thought about what might happen if an employee commits fraud within your business? This also includes risks that aren’t directly related to your business but can still affect it significantly. Things like divorce, illness in the family, and other related issues can harm your business if you do not have a plan in place.

Learn From Your Peers

The best people to learn from are the people who work in similar places.

Do you have other business owners to lean on? If you have run into one of these business hazards, there’s a chance that someone else has survived it before you. Drawing on peer knowledge can be a game-changer because these are people who know what you are going through.

Planning with your team is also a great idea. Have a meeting with your employees and your business partners, identify what issues you might run into and then discuss possible solutions and contingency plans around these hazards. Unfold these layers of your business and look at what might go wrong, and how to save your business from them.