Every business, new or old faces risks that could be considered a threat to its success. The way to define risk is simple. It is the probability of an event and the consequences that this event might have in the business. For example, an investment is a big event for a business. If the investment goes bad then that is a negative consequence for the business.

Risk management is the practice that focuses on identifying the potentially hazardous consequences for the business. Basically, through risk management, a business focuses on finding what could go wrong, evaluate all the potential risks and deal with them through appropriate implementing risk management strategies. When a business identifies the risks, it will be much better prepared to deal with them in a cost-effective manner.

With this article, we will attempt to guide you through the risks your business might face in the future as well as the right ways to deal with them.

Here are the main categories of  risks that your business could most likely face:

• Financial risks: An example could be, not receiving payment from customers on time or not at all.

• Strategic risks: An example could be a new competitor entering the market bringing innovation that your business is not yet using.

• Operational risks: An example could be the destruction or loss of important equipment.

• Compliance risk: An example could be new legislation on safety and health

Although these four are the main categories of potential risks for your business, there are a plethora of others that could equally damage your company. Falling into more than just one of these categories is a real possibility for many businesses. Some other categories include political and economic instability risks, environmental risks, employee management risks, and safety risks.

What is my first step?                                             

Evaluation is the first step when it comes to risk management for businesses. When your about to choose whether you are willing to take a risk for your business, it is important to know the extent of it as well as the significance. You can do that through an evaluation process.

When you start the evaluation process you must first identify all the potential risks and rank them according to significance for the business. The easy way to do this will be to consider the consequences and probabilities of each potential risk. In most cases, this part alone is enough to help monitor the risk and propose the right solutions.

However, if you are thinking about expanding your business, you might want to consider acquiring the right tools to help you and of course take some risk management courses for businesses. Finding the right information will be valuable when the time comes to meet and deal with potential risks.

There are many ways to find the right training tool for risk management in businesses. For example, the EU-funded You-Me project aims at providing aspiring young men and women with information training and support to help them establish their own business, focusing on migrants. The training material of this project on risk management for businesses can certainly be of great help to people looking to build their own business from scratch.

Make sure that you will be able to find the right information and the right material that will help you establish and run a strong an steady business!