Bob Stewart is a Business Recovery team leader at Recover Canterbury; part of a team of experienced and skilled Business Recovery coordinators who are helping earthquake-impacted businesses get back on their feet. To find out more visit www.recovercanterbury.co.nz
Walk down the streets of Auckland, Wellington or Dunedin (in fact anywhere other than Christchurch), and mention business recovery in Christchurch and you’ll hear the same response, “Shouldn’t we have gotten over it by now?”
Now that’s unfortunate. But what’s even more unfortunate is some Cantabrians are thinking the same thing. And while some businesses are on the road to recovery, there are others that have not “gotten over it” and the fact they think they should have is leaving them feeling frustrated, isolated and alone.
What people need to understand is there is no quick fix for businesses recovering from a disaster like the Canterbury earthquakes.
What we do have is a whole lot of uncertainty mixed with a range of ever-changing challenges – from infrastructure repair to insurance battles, relocation and repair of premise to staff recruitment and retention, all leading to increased levels of stress and fatigue among business owners, managers and their staff.
So how do businesses cope? How do they “get over it?”
For many businesses it means they need to change the way they operate. Yes, that means you’ve got to pull that strategic business plan out of the bottom drawer and re-define your strategy moving forward.
Businesses also need to surround themselves with professional advisors they trust. So get your accountant, lawyer, your business mentor or any other business advisors on speed dial, including your Recover Canterbury Business Recovery co-ordinator.
Your Business Recovery co-ordinator is a bit like a coach – we’re here to help you weave your way through the mountain of information out there and pluck out the best bits of support, then set you on a path towards recovery and growth. Because believe me, growth is going to hit Christchurch in a big way.
Opportunities will be here for the taking as rebuild funds hit the city and we want to make sure that our business community has recovered and is ready.
But what is going to hold our business community back is this incorrect assumption that we should have “gotten over it”. We need businesses to realise that they are not alone in still feeling a bit of pain.
We need businesses to realise constant change is a certainty and will bring with it new and unexpected challenges.
Recover Canterbury is the only dedicated post-quake business recovery service to help earthquake-impacted businesses get on the road to recovery and growth. Our team is working alongside existing organisations that provide business advice, support and advocacy such as the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, the Canterbury Development Corporation and government agencies.
Our team of Business Recovery co-ordinators work with individual businesses and groups of businesses to help them recover, become independent and capable of long term sustainability. We do this by providing targeted, relevant and valuable tools and services, such as business recovery planning, mentoring, referrals to professional services, business resilience and stress management support, training and assistance with business issues.
For eligible businesses financial assistance may also be available through the Canterbury Business Recovery Trust or the Red Cross Independent Advice for Small Business grant.
Best of all, Recover Canterbury’s services are completely free and are available until April 2013. So if your business is not where it was pre-quake, or you don’t know how to get the next step ahead in this post-quake environment, invest five minutes in getting a bit of help by giving us a call.
And please don’t bury your head in the sand (or snow) and think that you should have “gotten over it” by now because, believe me, very few people (or businesses) truly have.
