9 June 2020 | Judy O’Connell : VSBC We’re really pleased to share with you our new small business owner’s guide to creating a mental health plan in response to coronavirus (COVID-19). With many small business owners focused on trying to get their businesses through this difficult period and looking after their family and staff, they might not have prioritised their own mental health. Creating a mental health plan is one way to make sure they have practical strategies they can call on to look after themselves and their staff as they plan for business continuity and recovery.  To develop the guide, we consulted with stakeholders including Beyond Blue, the outcome of which is a user-friendly guide that helps business owners:

• identify stressors that might come up
• recognise changes in themselves that signal when they might need extra support
• plan actions they can take in response like getting accurate information about supports, including help to resolve a small business dispute or a rent dispute between a commercial tenant and landlord.

It comes with an easy to use template for small business owners to build their own tailored plan and an example plan to use as a guide point. We have promoted across our social media sites (links in my signature block). We would appreciate it if you could consider sharing our posts to your sites where appropriate or raising awareness in other ways (e.g. linking to our news item in a stakeholder information pack or in an e-bulletin, or promoting as part of a webinar seeking to reach small business owners etc.). If you would like more information about our resource or other supports we provide, please contact Cate Hamill on 9651 9114 or at cate.hamill@vsbc.vic.gov.au, or visit www.vsbc.vic.gov.au. Kindest regards Judy O’Connell | Victorian Small Business Commissioner