One minute I was interviewing Steve Cumper about his famous Red Velvet Lounge, and then a few months later it was gutted by fire! Every owner’s worst nightmare – a thriving business turned into a smoking ruin. You can hear the interview I did with Steve back in July 2014, and this time around, we talked about rebuilding and relaunching.

Steve has built up a big community of friends and fans in the small town of Cygnet in Tasmania. They rallied around in so many ways to help with the recovery, and he also had to work with his landlord, insurance companies, creditors, equipment suppliers, finance companies and staff to get things back on track. Plus the town’s expectatios that things would return to exactly how they were before. There are so many lessons here for how small operators handle ‘risk management’ – one of those terms we usually shrug off, but here it come to life in full, flaming colour. Steve is an interesting and articulate guest – enjoy the interview and please learn from his experience.