Victorian small business owners now have access a free practical guide to creating a mental health plan in response to COVID-19, launched by the Victorian Small Business Commission.
The guide, Responding to coronavirus (COVID-19): A small business owner’s guide to creating a mental health plan was developed in consultation with Beyond Blue and draws on insights shared by Victorian small business owners with lived experience of overcoming mental health challenges.
Small Business Commissioner Judy O’Connell said that with the impacts of COVID-19 being felt right across the small business community, there had never been a more important time for business owners to think about their own wellbeing.
“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,” Commissioner O’Connell said.
“Creating a mental health plan is one way to make sure they have practical strategies that they can call on to look after themselves and their staff,” she said.
“Our new guide helps small business owners to identify stressors that might come up, such as feeling overwhelmed over not being able to pay rent when they’ve had to significantly limit how they trade.”
Commissioner O’Connell said business owners could use the plan to help identify changes in themselves that signalled when they needed extra support and the actions they could take.
The Commission’s eight-page guide can be accessed at this PS News link.
