The POS Software Blog

News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.

CategorySocial Responsibility

Challenges for suppliers of products sourced from China

June 16, 2020

2 Min read

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Shoppers are keen for Australian made – more so now than at any time we can recall. Our advice to suppliers and retailers is consistent: If your products are Australian made, make sure you are bold in pitching that on the products.

Since COVID hit and more so in recent weeks as tensions with China have escalated in Australia and in recent weeks as democracy in Hong Kong has come under attack from Beijing, shoppers and retailers are more wary of China sourced product. And more recent still is the attack on the international student business.

Is sourcing products from China a long term concern? It’s hard to say. It is, however, enough of a concern in our view that we expect some suppliers are actively working on adjustments to their supply chain so as to not be impacted by anti China sentiments.

We have been discussing the situation internally and with our retailer partners and we feel that it is Beijing’s moves against Hong Kong and the recent war of words from China against Australia that represent the most significant risk to the commercial viability of China sourced products.

Does this mean retailers don’t want to source products from China? No. However, it does mean that it is on the minds of retailers and that they do talk about it with us.

In our own retail businesses, yes, we are a POS software company with our own shops selling gifts and homewares as test sites for our software, we are concerned about the source of what we sell. Where possible we preference locally made, ethically sourced.

What’s happening in Hong Kong showcases suppression of democracy and at some point we anticipate the world will respond to that. What’s being published by state owned news outlets in China against Australia also indicates the challenges and risks ahead for the supply chain.

These are reasons why we hope suppliers have alternatives in development so that supply is not impacted.

As a POS software company we became involved in our customer businesses in many ways. We have written about this topic today as it has come up in several retailer forums we have hosted.

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How our Australian POS software company helps Australian small business retailers to ethically pitch shop local

June 15, 2020

2 Min read

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Shop local is a common pitch from small business retailers. You see it on social media as well as on signs in front of shops. It’;s usually an emotive pitch without substance.

We think such pitches, while well intentioned, fall flat as they offer little evidence of what shop local looks like.

Small business retailers who pitch shop local need to, themselves, look at where they shop for products and for infrastructure. The shop local pitch can fall flat if the business clearly sells products primarily sourced from overseas.

For businesses sourcing products locally, we can help in our POS software with opportunities and tools through which the local Australian made message can be pitched and reinforced, to help shoppers see and feel the local connection at the transaction and product level.

In our Australian made and supported POS software we can help small business local retailers practically and consistently advise customers about locally made products – in-store as well as online. We can help retailers to do this in a way that demonstrates their actions speaking louder than words. We think this approach will have more valuable impact than a social media post calling for people to shop locally.

Sharing information on receipts and through other platforms about locally made product can be the difference in winning a sale or not. Doing it with consistency across the inventory fleet is critical. It can be systemised for consistency of delivery and of wording itself. This is where our Aussie POS software can help small business retailers be smart in their shop local and buy Australian pitch.

We’d love to see more retailers being smarter in their shop local pitches. Of course, it is locally made and supported software that will do best at this for Aussie small business retailers. Our goals are more likely to be your goals when it comes to what is good for Australia and Australians. Yes, this is out pitch to you for POS software – buy locally made and ask what it can do for you to pitch shop local and shop Australian.

Here at Tower Systems we can help with this. Indeed, we’d love to help you with this. We live and breathe shop local.

The more we work together the strong our local communities, the stronger our country.

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Small business retail health and safety advice: coming out of lockdown

May 11, 2020

2 Min read

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As Australia takes steps out of COVID-19 lockdown, small business retailers are confronted with challenges to provide a safe and healthy workplace while maintaining a commercially viable business.

As we have been doing since late January, we have shared advice with our customers on steps that can be taken in retail businesses in this evolving post COVID-19 lockdown world.

Here is some of the recent advice we have published to our customers. This list will evolve over time as we discover new resources. As it evolves, we will share updates with our POS software customers.

Coronacast. The latest episode of this excellent podcast, released May 11, 2020, is about what we need to do in this lockdown easing situation. It’s about keeping you, your team and your family safe and healthy.
Social distancing. Reprint and replace your posters. Use this poster from the federal government. It is the one recommended. Consistent messaging is key. Place this at the entrance as well as in-store.
In-store advice. Click here to access up to date post lockdown advice for retailers from the Business resource Council of then UK. I have included this as I found some points to be interesting and relevant to Aussie retailers.
Refresh floor markings to show distance.
Maintain counter measures of distance at the counter.
Maintain good supply of hand sanitiser at the store entrance and the counter.
Reinforce hand washing and hand sanitising at the counter.
Maintain a regime of surface cleaning.
Out of store messaging. Use social media to rem ind your community what you are doing to keep them safe.
Home delivery. The vulnerable cohorts are as vulnerable as ever. Maintain home delivery and curbside pickup services.

We think it is critical for everyone to realise that nothing has changed from when the novel coronavirus was first discovered. There is no vaccine. It is highly contagious. It can be lethal to several cohorts of the community. The best was to deal with it is to reduce infections rates. The best way to achieve this is through personal hygiene and social distancing. Doing this in an environment of easing of lockdown is challenging.

We hope that our advice for small business retailers is useful.

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We support small business retailers in their push for 3 months rent free for their retail tenancies

April 24, 2020

2 Min read

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We urge small business retailers and their suppliers to send the text below, or their own version of it, to politicians to drive maximum interest in a 3 months rent free campaign, to achieve for others what was achieved yesterday in WA. Here is the suggested text:

I am a small business retailer and retailers like me need your help. Thanks to strong leadership, federal and state / territory governments have flattened the COVID-19 curve. A consequence has been an extraordinary drop in retail foot traffic.

While we appreciate the 25% rent waiver we can negotiate with our landlord thanks to the mandatory code, it will not help. There are retailers like us who can’t cover wages let alone the 75% of usual rent. JobKeeper helps employees, not in paying rent.

We urge you to advocate for an immediate 3 month waiver of all rent, funded by government. Without this we think many independent local shops will close, families will lose their homes and demands on Centrelink dramatically increase.

This is urgent. Please help. Small businesses need you.

Here are email addresses you could use in addition to other state and federal politician email addresses you find – especially state leaders in your area.

senator.cormann@aph.gov.au
senator.cash@aph.gov.au
josh.frydenberg.mp@aph.gov.au
attorney@ag.gov.au
Christian.Porter.MP@aph.gov.au
department@treasury.gov.au
Peter.Dutton.MP@aph.gov.au
Karen.Andrews.MP@aph.gov.au
Chris.Bowen.MP@aph.gov.au
jim.chalmers.mp@aph.gov.au
mark.dreyfus.mp@aph.gov.au
senator.katy.gallagher@aph.gov.au
Brendan.O’Connor.MP@aph.gov.au

For the Prime Minister, use a feedback form on his website.

The more retailers and their suppliers engage with this campaign the better.

We emailed 1,700 newsagents about this yesterday morning. We have also engaged with our own customers about this and they have been engaging with politicians, sending the email far and wide.

This is an important lobbying campaign by our channel. Even if your business is not down in revenue, you have colleagues who are and they need your support. The email have been written with that in mind.

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We support small business retailers in their fight for just and fair rent relief in this COVID-19 world

April 20, 2020

2 Min read

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Here is a list of information requested by some retail tenancy landlords, including some shopping centre landlords where tenants have registered for JobKeeper, advised they qualify for JobKeeper and provided retail turnover data (in the usual format supplied to the landlord) showing declines of between 30% and 75%. Landlords have asked for information prior to opening discussions on rent.

Note: the list is not from the one landlord.

Business bank statements for the last 2 years.
Personal bank statements for the last 2 years for all business owners.
Tax returns for the last 2 years, certified by your accountant.
BAS statements for the last 2 years.
A personal assets list for each owner or shareholder for the business.
A full stock listing showing age and value of all stock.
A list of all other businesses you own.
A list of all other retail tenancies you have.
Details of all state and federal government COVID-19 related funding and or grants you have applied for.

In my view, landlords have no right to this information. The CODE OF CONDUCT agreed by the national cabinet is clear. If a business applies and meets the criteria for JobKeeper, their lease falls within the details of the code.

The only data points that matters are comparative revenue. This can be provided in the form that has been used for years with most landlords. Their request for it in a different form is not part of the done. Indeed, I suggest that any such request is outside the good faith goals of the code.

I think it is critical that retailers advise state and federal politicians when their landlords seek information outside the code, like any of the information on the above list. At the time of advising politicians, I also suggest advising the office of federal small business and family enterprise ombudsman, the shopping centre council of Australia, the treasurer, prime minister, premier / chief minister, local small business commissioner as well as your local council.

Landlords and tenants have clear obligations under the code. From what I am seeing, too many landlords are misbehaving in their requests for information. I doubt this is due to ignorance. I think it is to create a barrier to providing financial relief to tenants. If it continues, more retail businesses will close for good.

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Why the national cabinet position is not sufficient help for retailers – SME retailers need a 100% rent subsidy for 3 months

April 17, 2020

4 Min read

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While the decision of the national cabinet over a week ago on a mandatory code for retail tenancies of small to medium enterprises is welcome, it gets nowhere near addressing the urgent and dire financial challenges facing many small business retailers.

Having talked with many retailers in a range of channels since the adoption of the code, the biggest challenges are being faced by those in larger centres. Whereas many, not all but many, high street and independent landlords are agreeing deals that are usually considerably better than forecast in the code, shopping centre landlords are slow to negotiate and demonstrating no willingness to go beyond the code.

The code allows for a rent reduction based on the quantum of reduction in revenue. In one business I know of with base rent at $16,000 a month, turnover is down 50%. The code suggests a rent reduction of 50% on the basis of the revenue decline, with half of the reduction being waiver and half being a deferral.

The retailer in our example could expect a waiver of $4,000 a month and a deferral, to be paid later, of $4,000 a month. That is if their landlord is fair in their approach.

The decline hit the retailer from early March. The landlord says the code will not apply until April.

Prior to COVID-19, the business had annual revenue of $1,130,000. It’s average GP% then was 35%. Out of the $395,500 GP it paid $192,000 in rent, $143,000 in wages and $42,000 in overheads, leaving $18,000 in profit – in broad terms.

Revenue is now down 50% and is likely to fall further. In addition to the decline in revenue has been a shift in what shoppers purchase. The average GP% has fallen to 29%.

Here is what an average month looks like. This example does not allow for retail peaks and troughs, like winter. Revenue: $47,500. GP: $13,775. Rent: $8,000. Wages: $5,000 with hours significantly cut. Overheads: $2,800 with all possible cuts made. The business is in the hole for $2,025 a month. However, in the rent number in this example, I have not factored that half of the reduction, $4,000 is deferred, not waived. This makes the hole worse.

The owners are at maximum borrowings. They have no fixed assets against which to borrow.

The question the owners have is – do we continue to trade and lose $2,025 a month plus the $4,000 a month deferral and in six months and be at least $36,150 worse off? … knowing that realistically, the loss will be closer to $80,000 based on the current trajectory.

Talking to the owners their position is the government regulations on social distancing are what have stopped people shopping. They created the situation where our business is now no longer viable. While we support what they have done, they have left us with a financial obligation that we are considering not accepting. We think going into administration now is the best option for us, to not extend our personal exposure.

This scenario is not uncommon. It demonstrates the inadequacy of the SME retail tenancy code of conduct.

We accept it is a complex issue to address. We think that state and federal governments need to immediately agree to themselves fund 100% of occupancy costs, rent, outgoings, marketing, for 3 months from April, with a goal of a better plan being developed prior to the end of June.

That move would keep landlords and retail businesses afloat. The downstream benefit would be cash in the economy, people in jobs, fewer businesses collapsing and, I suspect, lives saved.

Note: this example is not one of our retail businesses and is not a newsXpress business.

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State and territory support for small businesses in this COVID-19 world

April 1, 2020

2 Min read

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Newsagency marketing group newsXpress, of which I am a Director, in its daily support email to members, included this list of financial support from state and territory governments, which you may find useful:

State government support packages.
Here are links to state / territory government support packages announced to help businesses through the COVID-19 situation. While each state has different rules, some will allow the packages to be used for useful things such as website development and other activities that support the operation of the business. Please click on the appropriate link for your location and read up what you may be able to tap into. The text for each state is from the government websites.

Victoria. $10,000 grant that could be used for business improvement including web development or similar.
ACT: Earlier in the month, the government released a recovery plan, including a $20 million business improvement scheme. Under the scheme, businesses will be eligible for grants of $10,000 for improving business premises. This can include new equipment, new fit-outs and physical changes to attract customers. It is not currently clear what is required for eligibility. If they can also contribute $10,000 of their own, they will receive an additional $10,000, for a total of $30,000 funding.
NT: $20 million All Territory businesses will be able to access a $10,000 grant, followed by an additional $10,000 grant if they contribute $10,000 of their own.
Western Australia: No grants as such, other than the Lotterywest announcement from Monday. However: The WA Government will waive rental payments for small businesses and not-for-profit groups in State Government-owned buildings for six months. One-off $2,500 credit on electricity bills for small businesses that consume less than 50MWh per annum.
Queensland. Nothing substantial for small business here.
Tasmania. Several grants available, somewhat limited in scope and subject to eligibility.
New South Wales. Several options available, somewhat limited in scope and subject to eligibility.
South Australia. Nothing specific yet.

Our advice is that you carefully read the information for your location and that you then apply for every thing you could possibly be eligible for.

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How our POS software company is supporting small business retailers through COVID-19

March 30, 2020

3 Min read

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We are grateful to our 3,000+ small business retail customers for their support.

Today at Tower Systems it is business as usual with the majority of our retailers open for business as essential services. Farm supply, produce, garden (veggie) centres, fishing and newsagency businesses are all providing healthy, safe and appreciated services to local.

To help them in unique times we have:

Make our Retailer Roam portable POS software free.
Made it free to relocate to a home office.
Free extra licences for an additional location.
Frozen support fees.
Maintained full help desk services.
Introduces a fast track service for POS software connected websites.
Started delivering even more free online training.
Moved our operations to team member homes for maximum safety.
Guided retailers on ways to work on their business during a slow time.
Hosting live small business retailer meetings – enabling retailers to connect with each other as a mental health support.
Offering more personal support to indie retailers.

All of these things and more help our small business retailer community and right now there world is depending on small business retailers, they are genuinely the backbone of the economy, providing work, produce and other necessary items for sustenance – physically and emotionally.

We are helping in other ways, too. For exam please, we are working with several retailers on their covid pivot opportunity – pursuing new traffic opportunities through online, leveraging product categories that are new to their businesses.

Thanks to our advanced remote support and training services we are thrilled to be installing new rooftops through this, expanding our customer base as retailers select software made for their type of business. Our experts can train people in our software using smart tools – we have been doing this for years.

2020 is the year of small business. While big businesses are shutting, small business retailers are trading with safety and certainty. They are doing this as a community service first. Not profiting. Not being greedy., many are doing it with the owners themselves running the businesses. This is what small business owners do – they serve their communities in times of need.

Safety is the key. We see small business retailers being careful about customer contact in-store. Many are offering curbside pickup or home delivery – our software works a treat supporting this.

To our customers and our team members, thank you. All of us in small business are helping many people in our communities.

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Online user forum brings together small business retail POS software users

March 11, 2020

1 Min read

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Today we are hosting an online user forum for independent small business retailers across Australia and New Zealand to talk business.

This free ranging and open forum is another enamour series of facilitating opportunities for small business retailers to talk to each other. That it is online makes it easier for these retailers to connect without a cost or disruption of travel.

Today’s online forum will include discussion on:

Life after the bushfires.
The economy and its impact on local small retail businesses.
The Coronavirus challenge.
Ideas for stimulating your retail business.
The single most effective tool in the POS software to drive sales.
Free POS software training.

Open to any retailer using our software, the meeting will be recorded and made available to all Tower Systems customers.

We are grateful to all who will participate as it is contributions from everyday retailers that makes meetings like this useful for all.

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Small business retailers help local communities deal with the challenges of bushfires

January 28, 2020

2 Min read

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Small business retailers across Australia have demonstrated the value and commitment of their businesses in local and regional communities through the challenging time of the bushfires this year.

With most small businesses locally owned and staffed, they have been well placed to offer the practical support and comfort to other locals impacted by the bushfires.

We have seen small business retailers through their businesses open to local support groups, be collection points for practical assistance, be refuges and be places through with local stories can be heard in the broader Australian community and, indeed, around the world.

While big businesses that operate in regional Australia do employ locally, it is the small businesses where owners live and engage locally that carry the local stories and the local community. This is small business in action. It is why government support of small business is vital and more efficient in that a dollar into a local business is far more likely to benefit the local community than a dollar into a big business that is owned in the city or offshore.

Tower Systems only sells its POS software to small businesses, local businesses, independent businesses. This is our community and we are grateful to have seen first hand the good work done by this community through the 2019/20 bushfire season which, we add, is not over yet.

We see many glib marketing pitches about shopping local, so many that we tend to ignore them. It is the actions speaking louder than words that really matters as this is small local businesses serving their local communities, staying open, creating work and enabling local communities of have a semblance of normality. Seeing this is what matters most in fire ravaged areas – a semblance of normality as much as is possible and practical.

It is critical for Australians to shop small business first, to shop local first as much as possible in 2020 to facilitate rebuilding of communities across Australia. This has to be our goal and it can only be achieved through grass roots engagement of all Australians.

Spending local in small local businesses can be as beneficial as donating money to a recovery charity.

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Small business retail advice: how to cut the insurance overhead

January 13, 2020

2 Min read

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Insurance is a must-have business overhead. It is critical to have the right level of coverage with a respected insurer.

As retailers, we often look at our overheads. We recently re-negotiated insurance coverage for our 3 retail shops and achieved a 30% cut in insurance costs. We reviewed the needs of each specific retail business and set about discussing these with our insurance broker, the same broker we have used for years.

We went into the discussions armed with facts about the business, accurate stock value data and accurate fixed asset value data.

Here are some of the changes we made to our insurance coverage:

Property Cover – Annual Turnover adjusted to reflect trading, Contents including Re-Fit Costs adjusted, & Stock On Hand levels adjusted; These had drifted over time, adding to our costs inappropriately.
Business Interruption – Gross Profit levels adjusted; This is high cost coverage.
Money Cover – Level reduced from $20K blanket cover per store to $5K (lower limit); We bank daily so there is minimal cash on hand. Also, more and more over the counter payments are non cash so the level of cash cover was too high.
Glass Cover – Removed for for one store as there now is no glass window as well as no internal/external glass;
POS Equipment Breakdown – Removed; We looked at the actual costs and considered that we had not claimed in our 23 years in retail and then determined that we effectively cover ourselves through the saving.
Excesses – Increased from $500 per claim to $1,000 per claim since we have not claimed, ever.

The critical factor for us was that in all our years in retail we have never made a claim on insurance. Then one time our shop was flooded, we claimed against the builder for the landlord for disruption and inventory damage.

The renegotiation process took an hour. Time well spent for the 30% cut in insurance costs saving achieved.

We willingly share with our POS software customers details of our own experiences like this, in more specific detail than at this blog. We are glad to be able to help our customers in this practical way as every dollar shaved from business overheads is worth considerable more than you consider retail margins.

Yes, insurance cover is important. However, pay for what you actually need.

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We urge federal politicians to support a package of initiatives to help stimulate the economies of local Australian towns

January 7, 2020

4 Min read

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The bushfires across Australia are adding economic challenges to small rural and regional towns that were already challenged economically thanks to a soft economy and, in our view, poor leadership on the practical economics front.

We think it is essential for the federal government to engage urgently, practically and authentically to stimulate local economies and to do so blind to politics. Too often we see politicians endorse handouts to mates or based on the possible ballot box impact. Pork barrelling it is called. Right now, at this moment in time, we need no pork barrelling. What we need is stimulation where it is needed and the politicians should play no role in determining where it is needed.

In this post, as we did in November 2019, we call on federal politicians to engage in practical stimulation of small business retail as this will have an urgent, swift, knock-on benefit for local economies.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, small business retail especially.

Small business retailers are nimble and able to lift local economies faster than big businesses and certainly better than online businesses.

Here are six tips for politicians on steps they can take, decisions they can make to help lift retail, especially small business retail.

Direct all politician electorate Christmas spending to be with local small businesses. For gifts, parties, cards, everything for a year. Have the results assessed independently. Ensure that spending is fair, too, to benefit a variety of local businesses, and not dolled out as political favours. Shop local, shop small.
Run a national shop small shop local ad campaign. Make it educational, smart, encouraging …, guiding Aussies on the value to them from shopping local, shopping small. Help to understand the true value of shopping local, shopping small compared to the alternatives. The ad campaign should run regionally across multiple media platforms, giving preference to locally owned platforms with a track record for not managing their business to minimise tax.
Local shops refresh grant. Give every local retail business a grant of at least $10,000 with the stipulation that it is spent locally tin capital works for the shop, to improve the shop. Proof of local spending is to be in the form of an invoice from a local tradesperson or company with and ABN and more than a year of trading as recognised by the ATO – to avoid fraud. Spending could be focussed: painting, electrical, carpentry, flooring, repairs. The management of this should be online with quick approval and payment. Note: the $10,000 is suggested as anything less could be cosmetic. The reality is, we’d suggest $15,000 for $20,000. In a small town with ten shops, that would be $200,000 being spent with local contractors and businesses, flowing quickly through the economy.
Local artists grants. Offer cash grants to fund buskers for local high streets, to make shopping locally more entertaining. Make the application easy. Focus on local artists entertaining in their local community. This serves the dual purpose of injecting cash locally as well as fostering the local arts. The application process should be online, approval fast and payment immediate.
Local visual merchandising supports. Keeping in-store displays can be a challenge for small business retailers. Fund a network of merchandisers to make a 2 hour call weekly on qualified independent small retail businesses, sub $1M turnover, ABN registered, trading for six months or more. With each visit to be about visual refresh of the shop. Cap the cam pain at three months assess the economic value. Only local merchandisers to be used – i.e. to an overseas agency who hires local contractors.
Establish local currency systems. These work overseas on regional towns where local currency has more value than the national currency. It supports shopping local through a smart value structure. the government role could be on the tech back end to manage the currency – taking away capital cost from local councils. To find out more ab9out this, read up on the Bristol Pound.

This list could be longer. It is offered here as a start, to gets people thinking of practical ways to support shopping small, shopping local.

The current disinterest by politicians in practical support for local small businesses has us on a path of business closures. Urgent action is needed to engage locals in supporting local businesses.

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Australians need politicians who nurture consumer confidence

November 25, 2019

2 Min read

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An important role for politicians is to nurture confidence in the community as it is confidence that encourages economic engagement, such as spending in local retail shops.

We know from consumer surveys in Australia in 2019 that consumer confidence is challenged. While a survey this month shows an uptick, confidence remains low, and this plays out at registers in shops large and small.

It is unfortunate that politicians of all sides too often prefer to attack rather than lead, they prefer to score points against competitors rather than encouragethe broader community to feel more confident. It is the politicians at the edge who appear to pull the most focus in the media and therefore do the most damage to consumer confidence.

There is plenty to be optimistic about, plenty from which we can build confidence in the community. This ought be the focus of all politicians. It ought be the focus of news outlets, too. They should stop doing the bidding of politicians, running their fringe issue stories, running stories for which there is non evidence of support.

Australian businesses, Australian retailers, small business retailers especially need local shoppers to be more confident. Confidence is key to getting people shopping.

While personal confidence is nurtured by personal success and achievement, community wide confidence can be nurtured through good leadership, the type of leadership politicians ought be delivering. The right words in the right locations could make a significant difference to the performance of retail businesses this Christmas.

No, we are not suggesting politicians say go out and spend up this Christmas or go and shop local. Those statements, which I have heard recently, are not confidence building. In my view, such statements are lazy. They fall flat.

I’d rather politicians talk about the awesome local gift they found, shine a light on a local shipping precinct in theirs electorate, talk up locally made food or celebrate with gratefulness every business related good news story in their electorate.

Politicians need to talk optimistically about the economy, shopping local, the country and the future. They can do this without being political, without supporting fringe issues. and without being clumsy in their pitch.

Community confidence builds over time, layer by layer, story by story. Politicians, for part of their lives, are storytellers. We need them to be good storytellers and tellers of confidence encouraging stories.

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Mental health is about more than one day of the year

September 23, 2019

6 Min read

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While it was RUOK? Day last week, the mental health challenge for businesses owners and, indeed, the whole community is a 365 day a year challenge.

Recent Bureau of Statistics figures reinforce why this is a 365 day a year challenge:

As an employer of many 15-34 year olds, the stat for suicide is horrifying. The broader suicide rate in Australia is horrifying.

We have written a few times here about mental health. Not as an expert, because we are not experts. Rather, our interest is as an employer and as someone who craves for a healthier and happier country.

We share here today a revised version of information we have shared here before on this topic, and in particular about the mental health of newsagents and those in our businesses.

Despite all the ads on TV, despite the work of R U OK?, despite the work of agencies like Beyondblue, despite the stories in the media, mental health, especially mental health within the small business community, and especially the newsagency community, is not talked about.

The challenge is that we cannot always see unhealthiness. If someone is physically unhealthy, we can usually see it, but not mental unhealthiness. For sure there are occasional signs like behavioural outbursts that don’t make sense but you can’e be sure and often you don’t want to ask for fear of making it worse.

In small business retail and in our channel there are challenges that can make things worse: bullying landlords, overbearing suppliers, demanding customers, relentless competitors. These and other factors can make someone see the road ahead through clouded eyes. For some of those on the other side, however, how they handle a situation could be driven by how the small business has dealt with it up to then.

We are all for personal accountability and often say we need to own our own situation – we sign our leases, we sign magazine contracts, we go into business. However, we do these things expecting fairness. Too often there are people on the other side of a commercial relationship who do not act with fairness.

Social media is a factor with mental health as it gives everyone a megaphone and the ability to publish an opinion without thinking it through. In schools social media is a big focus in mental health awareness, especially around bullying.

It is hard to know the mental health of anyone. That person smiling at you or joking with you could be in a dark place in their mind. This is why it is important we talk and ask colleagues how they are doing and why we all need to help when we think help could be what is needed.

In the workplace, we think being open with each other so that everyone has a shared and open experience. If there are business performance issues, rather than keeping them secret, talking about them could help ease tension: a problem shared and all that…

There are wonderful resources from government departments available. For example, The Victorian Government has a page online on this topic, which includes good practical advice:

Make time to exercise each day: For example, a simple daily lunch time walk can help maintain a positive outlook.
Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness means being aware of your reactions/feelings/thoughts as you have them. This helps you choose how to manage matters as they arise. Mindfulness is a great tool to help lower stress and anxiety levels.
Adopt work/life boundaries: Don’t let work overtake your life. Set some boundaries to ensure you have time for both work and a social life. You might decide not to discuss work from 5pm Friday night to 8am Monday morning because weekends are for family time only.
Connect with others: Find someone worthy of your stories – a confidant or mentor you can talk to about your business experiences. Make sure this person is supportive, a good listener and someone whose opinion you value.

This website also lists indicators:

Physical signs: For example, a constant knot in your stomach, tense neck and shoulders, feeling nauseous, heart palpitations or chest pains.
Changes in behaviour: For example, being unable to sleep, crying regularly, feeling moody or often irritable, increase or loss of appetite.
Unclear thinking: For example, not being able to make decisions, not understanding directions, not being able to focus, being inattentive.
Feeling sad or anxious regularly: We all have bad days – they’re a normal part of life. This flag needs attention if you begin to notice feeling like this regularly.
Disconnecting from others: This may include not joining in social activities, choosing to spend time away from family and friends or stopping hobbies/sporting activities.
Feeling overwhelmed: It is difficult to find solutions to problems, and in some instances it feels like they are insurmountable. Problem solving becomes difficult

And it lists useful resources:

Business In Mind: Business In Mind is an online resource specifically designed to support business owners who may be experiencing mental health challenges.
Beyond Blue: beyondblue provides information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health, whatever their age and wherever they live.
The Ripple Effect: A resource for rural communities that addresses suicide in rural areas.(Ph: 03 5551 8587)
Sane provides online information, support and connection for every Australian affected by complex mental illness through its website, peer-to-peer forums and helpline. SANE also has a range of factsheets on managing mental health in the workplace. (Ph: 1800 18 7263)

Our approach to mental health as business owners has to be continuous, on-going. It can’t be a one day of the year focus or a stunt. It has to be part of how we run our businesses, everyday.

In our experience, talking is key – offering an environment where people can talk, where they know it is safe to talk, where they are encouraged to talk and where active listening happens. While it is not always perfect and does not always achieve what is hoped for, it is documented as being valuable.

While RUOK? Day today is important for awareness, that awareness and engagement need to be year-long.

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