Running your own business is like taking a risk every day. However, you need to make sure that your financial and intellectual assets are protected, or you will lose everything you worked so hard for. We have all heard about companies going out of business over a scandal, compliance issue, or a poor business decision. If you want to get ahead of trouble, you need to look at your business risk assessment carefully and address the areas below before it is too late.

1. Human Resources and Internal Policies

If you don’t have internal policies and behavior standards, you will risk losing employees and customers at a minimum. You must provide training for workers on health and safety, diversity awareness, and anti-discrimination. Leading-edge companies don’t scoff at the idea of having an inclusion and diversity policy something high-performing, objective employees are typically attracted to. You will improve the company’s culture, the communication among employees, and job satisfaction when these areas are addressed proactively. Your role as a leader is to lead by example and set clear policies and standards at the workplace that your employees can follow. Provide them with updates, and create a clear disciplinary procedure for non-compliance.

2. Environmental Issues

Any industry can face environmental challenges. Even if you have an accounting firm, you might be accused of not doing enough to reduce the carbon footprint of your company and suffer the loss of earnings due to some of your customers leaving you. Create an internal environmental policy and green targets for all employees to work towards. Where possible, attempt to reduce paper use, encourage, and reward green initiatives, such as recycling, cycling to work, or ride sharing. This way, you can create positive messages for your customers as well as your employees.

3. Data Security

You must have heard about data security breaches in large organizations, and might be aware of the legal and reputational risks of allowing sensitive customer or employee information to get into the wrong hands. If you don’t yet have a data security and protection policy, you are risking fines, loss of data, and even going out of the business. Set clear guidelines for your employees on how to handle, store, collect, and destroy customer information to avoid data breaches. If your sensitive company records get into the wrong hands, your competitors can gain access to your financial statistics and business plans, gaining an unfair advantage.

4. Internal Fraud

Managing your human resources is a challenging task. You need to screen your applicants and regularly vet your current employees, to minimize the risk of internal fraud. Internal fraud starts with inadequate HR policies and screening practices. You need to protect your intellectual property, insider information, and your reputation. An example of internal fraud can be when a disgruntled employee asks your customers to make payments to an alternative account. Your accounting system will send out automatic payment reminders, and you will get your customer angry, as they think they already paid. Often internal fraud remains undetected in businesses for years, due to the lack of employee monitoring.

5. Financial Troubles

Bad financial decisions can bankrupt your company, or impact its growth. You will need to invest in your business, but only take out a loan if you are sure that you can repay it back timely. In the business world, word gets around quickly about companies’ financial problems. Talk to a financial planner and accountant before you make significant decisions that may impact business finances.

6. Taxation Changes

As a responsible business owner, you need to keep an eye on upcoming changes in tax legislation and policies and plan your growth and year accordingly. You can only avoid the taxman for a short time, and unpaid taxes can negatively affect your company’s financial report. It is best to check with a tax advisor regarding whether or not the current policies are likely to be in place a few years from now, before starting a larger investment or development projects. Try to find ways of getting tax rebates and incentives, to maximize your company’s earnings and profits, as well as your growth potential.

7. Customer Service Issues

Your customers know that there is huge competition out there, and if they are not getting the level of service they expect, they will be quick to move on. You need to train your employees on customer service and work on continuous improvement. One of the areas you can add value to your products or services and stand out from the competition is customer service. Make sure that you are maximizing your customer retention efforts, or you will find yourself with an operation with no clients.

8. Reputation Management

If you don’t pay attention to reputation management, you might be in for a surprise. Your company will need to pay attention to what customers are saying about you, and how your brand is perceived in the market. Create customer survey and compile research data. Keep an eye on social media and feedback received on review sites. Respond to customer complaints publicly, and address issues as soon as possible.

9. Outdated Technology

If your business software has an outdated security platform, you risk losing valuable information. Using antiquated software is a huge risk that can be eliminated quickly. You can get an updated custom business platform designed by Svitla Systems for example, that allows your employees to perform their jobs more efficiently, and faster. You will improve workplace morale, keep your customers and workers happy, and increase your productivity at the same time.

Addressing risks before they cause you severe business loss is an important, proactive step to take. Have your risk assessments completed and focus on the most problematic areas. If you manage to identify and reduce risks, your company will be able to plan more efficiently, and you will minimize the potential for emergency, damaging situations.

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