Planning ahead is key to running a thriving business – and that includes being prepared for anything. If you haven’t given much thought to how climate change will impact your business, here are seven reasons to get climate ready as part of your business planning this year.
Extreme weather events, shifting seasons and supply chain disruptions are just some of the impacts your business might experience now and into the future as a result of WA’s changing climate. These changes will impact every type of business in some way – and now is the best time to plan ahead to support your business through these events. Being ready for anything makes good business sense.
Here are seven compelling reasons to put practical strategies in place to help manage the impact of climate change on your business.
Reason #1: Climate change will impact every business
If your business isn’t located in an area prone to cyclones, floods or bushfires, you might think you don’t need to plan for climate change. The reality is that a business in any location or sector can experience related impacts such as rising costs. For example, longer hours of air conditioning during a heatwave could lead to higher energy bills.
Rather than feeling overwhelmed by changing conditions, planning ahead can help you feel ready for anything. Acting now may help you to reduce risks, manage unexpected costs, keep your business operating during disruptions and even achieve a competitive advantage as market conditions change.
If you haven’t already seen it, make sure you read WA’s climate is impacting your business - here’s how to get ready.
Reason #2: You’ll be more likely to keep your income flowing
Climate related disruptions are impacting supply chains more frequently and often in unexpected ways. For example, extreme weather events in coffee-growing regions have reduced the supply of coffee beans. This has led to higher coffee prices for cafés and hospitality businesses. Similar disruptions can affect many goods and materials which WA businesses rely on to operate.
Being climate ready means having a Plan B, such as identifying alternate suppliers, adjusting stock levels or considering different delivery methods. This preparation can help you stay one step ahead of potential disruptions, and possibly ahead of your competitors, while keeping downtime and lost income to a minimum.
Reason #3: You can look after your customers and your team
It’s great for your business to have a reputation for looking after your customers in all conditions. This helps to build customer loyalty and strengthen your brand – so it’s worth planning ahead.
As an employer, being climate ready is also part of creating a safer work environment for your team. For example, you could discuss plans for heatwaves, storms or other extreme weather events during regular team meetings. This can help reduce stress and anxiety for your staff during uncertain conditions.
Reason #4: Put protections in place for your premises, equipment and assets
Whether you run a home based business, a bricks and mortar store or another type of operation, you’ve invested time and money into your business. It makes sense to protect that investment against the impacts of climate change.
This could include plans to protect your physical infrastructure from damage and downtime, or ensuring your equipment and assets are well maintained so they continue to operate effectively as conditions change.
It’s also essential to make sure you have the right protection in terms of your insurance cover. For example, you may need to review your insurance cover now to make sure it fits your business needs now and into the future.
Reason #5: You could avoid unexpected costs
Planning for the kind of costs you may face as the climate changes can help you manage risk and help to support a healthy cashflow.
Knowing ahead of time that you can generally expect your costs to increase over time, you could be proactive in finding ways to reduce your overheads where possible. For example, you could also explore energy efficient equipment and practices, such as finding more efficient ways to use water and energy which might have an impact on your bills. As part of your insurance review, you might find ways to save costs by comparing different products offered by different insurers.
Reason #6: Be a central part of your community
Recovering from a crisis or extreme weather event often requires communities to come together and support one another.
By being prepared for anything, your business could play an important role in community recovery efforts, bolstering community spirit and helping to strengthen local resilience. This may benefit your customers, staff and neighbouring businesses, with positive flow on effects for the wider community. Depending on your business, this could include providing essential goods or services, maintaining employment for your team, or offering practical support when it’s needed most.
Reason #7: Being ready for change is good business practice
Running a successful business means anticipating changes before they happen – and that can put your business in the strongest position when responding to shifting climate conditions.
With the right planning, your business may not only survive extreme weather events or disruptions but emerge stronger and better prepared for anything. Being climate ready can help reduce risks, protect your investments and manage your costs. Getting ready now could put your business in the strongest position to thrive in changing conditions.
The Climate Ready Program for small and medium enterprises
The Climate Ready program will include workshops, tools and resources designed to support WA’s small business community and help businesses build resilience in the face of the changes and challenges ahead. Workshop attendees will also have the opportunity to apply for funding to help put their climate adaptation plans into action.
Sign up to be the first to know when these workshops go live and get your business climate ready.
