Risk Assessment in Business Planning

Much attention has focused on the concept of business risks and risk assessment over the past half century. It is common knowledge that entering a business is risky, particularly in today’s economy. However, few understand all the facets of business risk and how they affect the business planning process.

Types of Business Risk

Your business plan should not only mention the existence of the risks and threats, but define the manner in which your company will respond to the risks. There are ten basic categories of business risk, each of which must be planned for before any company has a real chance of survival:

• Financial Risk – the chance that financial matters such as inflation, interest rate changes, credit troubles and currency devaluation might interfere
• Company Liability Risk – the chance that an employee or customer may file a lawsuit against your company over accident, discrimination, etc.
• Management Risk – the prospects of company management being ineffective, destructive or simply underperforming.
• Brand Risk – the problems of maintaining product profitability and reputation or that the consumer or regulatory environment affecting your product will change.
• Competitor Risk – the chance of new competitors will enter the market or that your operation will not be competitive with existing companies.
• Customer Risk – the problems of developing customer loyalty and satisfaction with your product or service and the shifting focus of consumer interests.
• Industry Risk – a collective category covering every possible industry-specific risk imaginable from grease burns in fast food to electrocution in power generation.
• Project Risk – risks involved with a specific project or that might face that project caused by outside forces.
• Stagnation Risk – risks involved with the potential of market saturation or limits in raw materials availability.
• Operational Risk – the risks involved with the physical equipment of a company, ranging from conveyor belts and forklifts to office computers.

How We Can Help

Preparing the business plan and covering the potential risks involved can be very time consuming and challenging. Often this writing requires the expertise of an experienced business professional; one of the many types of writers our company employs.

Our research and writing staff can assist you with virtually every level of business documentation, from your first business plan to comprehensive annual reports. Using state of the art software and a firm mastery of the writing profession, we can produce high-quality reports that are sure to impress your peers. Contact us today and let us get you started on the right foot!