More than 6000 small-business owners have signed up for Beyond Blue’s mental health coaching program, New Access for Small Business Owners Program (NASBO).
Since 2021, NASBO has provided almost 23,000 support sessions to more than 6000 business owners across Australia who are facing work-related stress, depression, anxiety or who are struggling with work-life balance, rising costs pressures, business uncertainty and other personal or professional challenges.
NASBO offers an earlier intervention service that effectively tackles mental health issues before they become worse and provides people with tailored and practical support to manage their mental health as well as linkage to other support services they may need such as financial counselling.
The service uses evidence-based low-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy and small-business owners will undergo up to six sessions and two follow-up sessions, working with a trained coach with a background in small business.
Beyond Blue’s Chief Engagement Officer and small-business mental health expert, Greg Jennings said that the program has been a great success.
“More than 90 per cent of NASBO participants said they feel more able to cope with the stresses after the coaching sessions and almost 70 per cent of participants reported recovering from a mental health condition with the help of the program,” Jennings said.
“Most small-business owners who reach out for help are overwhelmed, their business is struggling, and it can be hard to see a way forward,” Jennings added. “This is especially challenging during tough economic times, which affects small businesspeople both personally and professionally. When you give so much of yourself to the business, it can be exhausting, and left unchecked, your mental health can really suffer. We can help small businesspeople get back on track and feel more productive.
NASBO Coach Kirsty Bryant, who has worked in corporate management and run her own small business in the past, said that many small-business owners she has worked with have told her that their job has completely taken over their lives, prompting a lot of self-doubt, massive over thinking and a lack of confidence.
“I tell clients their business doesn’t define them,” Bryant said. “I discuss the pie approach with them because many people go into business knowing a couple of slices of the pie – they might understand manufacturing or marketing, for example – but they struggle with the rest of the pie [such as] bookkeeping, staffing, distribution or other components and they get overwhelmed.
“It’s not about solving the problems for them but helping them to become more resilient and look at ways to change their behaviours – helping them identify ways to find the answers,” Bryant added.
Adapted specifically for small-business owners, NASBO is based on Beyond Blue’s NewAccess program and is funded by the Commonwealth Government. The NASBO program is available for free from 8 am to 8 pm to SME owners nationally.
