For small business owners
This guide has been developed to help identify how you’re coping with stressors in your small business and what actions you can take to alleviate them.
This helps small business owners who operate alone to develop a simple plan to address the challenges unique to a small business owner. It allows the owner to:
- list their causes of stress and strategies to overcome them
- document positive actions to enhance their mental health and wellbeing
- develop plans for their business if they need to take time off work
- identify professional and personal support people and resources they
In conjunction with the personal plan, this helps small business owners who employ staff to develop a plan for their business. It progresses through six steps:
- setting up a leadership group
- identifying the needs of the business
- pinpointing risks and potential improvements
- establishing actions that will address risks
- supporting staff with mental health conditions
- monitoring actions, reviewing and improving the plan.
For those supporting small business
This resource is designed for people who have contact with small business owners and are concerned about their mental health and wellbeing. Perhaps it’s a work contact, family member or friend who doesn’t quite seem themselves and may have shared with you that their business is causing them worry.
Training programs
These free online training modules are designed to increase understanding of mental health in the workplace and provide practical strategies to support individuals.
Podcasts
Hear Nick Arvanitis speak on what small businesses can do to create a mentally healthy workplace, as well as give tips on how small business owners can take care of their mental health and that of their employees.
This is a 40 minute podcast developed by OF KIN as part of the 2017 Victorian Small Business Festival. Access it for free via iTunes or Soundcloud.
Webcasts
For those supporting small business
In this webcast you’ll hear from industry leaders about how you can support small business owners’ mental health. It will discuss how you can support your clients and customers with their mental health and wellbeing and identify helpful resources.
A 'how to' for the Beyond Blue Supporting small business owners' guide designed for work contacts, friends and family of small business owners. Covering real life scenarios, the presenters offer practical tips to help you make the most of the guide.
Assessing your mental health
The Anxiety and depression checklist (K10) featured on the Beyond Blue website is a simple tool that helps to measure whether a person may be affected by anxiety and/or depression.
This tool can be a valuable resource for you or someone you are concerned about. By answering a few questions related to how a person’s been feeling over the previous four weeks, a score is generated that provides a guide to whether someone may be experiencing anxiety and/or depression.
Results and recommended actions are provided which individuals can print and give to their GP, if they choose to visit one. Answers and results are completely confidential, and information is not stored for future reference.
Accessing immediate support
If you feel you need to access support or you are concerned that a work colleague, client, customer or friend or family member is in urgent need of support or may be at immediate risk, assistance is at hand at Beyond Blue and other organisations.
If you or anyone you know needs support, contact: