Thomas M. Bragg on Business Risk Management

If you’ve been keeping score at home, you know that the risk management process has three basic steps – 1) identify risks and opportunities, 2) evaluate the risks and opportunities and 3) plan for risks and opportunities. However, there is some work that needs to happen before you get into the nuts and bolts of managing your risks.

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This week let’s talk about what needs to happen before the process begins. There are some basic activities: inspiration, motivation and preparation. Over the last few months I’ve written several posts dealing with the “pre-activities”. Let’s take a look at each of them. Read the rest of this entry »

Image by UnstablePixel via Flickr

It was a lightbulb moment. A few weeks back, a friend and I were talking about  the tendency of some companies to analyze and hold meetings, hold meetings and analyze, discuss, research and discuss again without taking any action. We were interested in the root cause of the perpetual analysis (a.k.a. analysis paralysis). Was it an extreme desire for precision and perfection? Or was it a fear of making mistakes? Read the rest of this entry »

Over the weekend I ran across a tweet that got me thinking:

You must risk something to succeed. Where there is no risk, there is no chance of success.

The tweet originated with Steve Keating (@LeadToday). It inspired me. The message applies to so many facets of life. Let me explain… Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last couple of months, I’ve walked through the process for small business risk management with you. I thought it would be a good idea to capture all of the “how to” posts in one place.

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Take a look at the compilation. My hope is that after reading all the posts below you have a general understanding of how to manage risks and opportunities for your small business. More importantly, I hope you see the benefit of incorporating formalized risk management into your daily business life.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the last week of 2009 and I owe you a blog post. I know I’ve promised that I will run through the third step of the risk management process – planning for risks – but I want to hold on to that topic until things are back to normal after the holidays. Stay tuned. In the meantime, let’s talk about risk management and small businesses…

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In a recent comment on a Professor Pinch post, I listed three reasons that small businesses don’t practice formalized risk management. In my opinion, small business owners either:

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1. Recognize the need for risk management but choose to ignore it; or
2. Recognize the need for risk management but assign it a low priority; or
3. Don’t recognize the need.

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I’m sure there are some examples of each reason out there in the world of small business, but which one is the primary reason? Read the rest of this entry »

I was working on my next post – 3 Categories of Risk – but got sidetracked by Naomi Dunford’s latest . It got me thinking. In my first post, I pledged the following;

I commit to do my best to engage you and be engaged. I will strive to earn your trust and trust you. I will endeavor to write things that you may want to pass along and discuss with others.

After reading Naomi’s post and all the comments, I realized that I’m not doing a very good job at living up to my commitment. Sure, I’m covering the subject matter in a very businesslike manner. But, if I want to engage you and earn your trust there needs to be more sharing - more than the bio, more than the LinkedIn profile and more than an occasional tweet…

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So what’s in it for me? Why am I bothering with writing a blog? There’s no advertising. I’m not soliciting consulting gigs or peddling the next great risk management toolset. What’s the motivation?

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My friend Jill and I were talking about the business risk management book I’m working on. Jill consults with small businesses and was saying how many small business owners are hesitant or even resistant to planning. Many just don’t feel that they have the time or are intimidated by the process and the required effort. “Why should they care about risk management, Tom?”, Jill asked. It’s a very good question.

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In my mind, there are 5 reasons a business owner should want to learn about and practice business risk management. By implementing business risk management, you can:

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1. Avoid bad things that are likely to happen to you.
2. Minimize the consequences of bad things that you can’t avoid.
3. Identify and take advantage of opportunities you may not see.
4. Do more than just insure against a few risks, with little or no added expense.
5. Join the best-run businesses.

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Let’s briefly talk about each reason…

Read the rest of this entry »