The Small Business Friendly Projects initiative aims to minimise the impact of construction on businesses by targeting both those responsible for construction projects as well as the business owners that could be impacted by these projects.
Construction work and infrastructure projects can have a significant impact on small businesses. This can include both financial and non-financial disruptions, such as a loss in turnover, reduction in customers and disruption to deliveries caused by road works.
As small business stakeholders have different needs to the broader community, we recommend government agencies have a specific small business engagement strategy in place to help minimise disruptions and the likelihood of complaints while the construction work is carried out.
To assist state government agencies and local government organisations, we have created practical guides which outline the steps you can take to minimise the disruption caused by construction work.
Guideline to help government agencies support small businesses
The Small Business Friendly Projects initiative provides an engagement framework for government agencies undertaking construction work that could have an impact on local businesses.
These tools will help agencies develop their own small business engagement strategies. The guide contains handy information such as:
- tips on when and how to engage with small businesses
- checklists for use by project staff during their discussions with small business
- what to consider when developing a construction mitigation program
- small business impact assessment report templates
- educational material on how to prepare small businesses for any disruption that may take place during construction.
Useful resources
Guide for State and Local Government agencies
Toolkit for State and Local Government agencies
More information
State and Local Government stakeholders are encouraged to contact us for more information about the Small Business Friendly Projects initiative.
To provide additional support to small businesses impacted by construction works, you can refer them to:
- Our Surviving in a construction zone guide and video resources.
- Contact our free small business advisory service for advice on how to plan around the period of disruption.
- Visit the templates, tools and guides section of our website to download and use our financial planning templates that can be used to plan around any disruption to their business.
