Can you easily identify the areas of risk in your micro business?
Do you know, exactly, what could go wrong?
My reason for asking these doom-laden questions is simple.
If we can steel ourselves to imagine all the things that could go wrong in our business, we can get a head-start on identifying ways of making them right again if they happen.
By doing this, we’re not only removing the fear and dread of something terrible happening, but we’re also equipping ourselves with the power to correct it.
You could think of risk management as honing your micro business superpowers!
Let’s Use Christmas as an Example
If we consider the risks we face in our business, the festive season is a prime example of a time for things to start going awry.
It’s a busy time of year for lots of businesses, which means you’re likely to be stretched thin…
…and there’s nothing like being extra-busy for problems to start rearing their ugly heads!
- The kids get sent home from school feeling ill, which means you’ve got to down tools and look after them
- Your laptop starts playing up, but because it’s Christmas, it’s hard to find someone to help you fix it
- Clients start dodging payments, leaving you to hope they’ll settle that invoice after all the seasonal fuss has died down
- Someone leaves you a bad review online
The list goes on.
I know what you’re thinking now.
It’s all very well, imagining the worst. You’ve done your PESTLE and SWOT analyses and you’re certain you’ve forecasted just about every possible business disaster scenario imaginable.
So now you’ve done all that, how do you put everything right again?
Create A Plan of Action
If you’ve worked with me, heard me speak or read anything I have written, you’ll know how passionate I am about planning.
And I’m here to tell you that when it comes to managing risk and resolving difficulties in your business, planning is your secret weapon.
Why?
Correcting problems in the right way usually needs a clear, calm head – which is hard to maintain when something unexpected happens! So, taking a little time to plan out your actions in advance means you’ll be able to resolve even the worst situations with ease.
(Sounds good, doesn’t it?)
This could mean having a trusted friend or family member on standby for when the kids fall ill.
Regularly backing up all your files means you can work from an ‘emergency’ laptop if needed.
You could start putting a little extra money aside every month from January so that you’re able to tide yourself over at the end of the year.
Crisis Averted: A Real-Life Example of Risk Management
One of my clients, an excellent therapist, woke up one Sunday morning to find that someone had left her a terrible review online.
This might not have been so bad if she’d known the client and understood the situation. But the review was anonymous, written from a rogue account she didn’t recognise.
[Later in the process, with further investigation, it turned out it was a local competitor!]
Worse still, she soon discovered that the damaging words had been cut and pasted across every review platform imaginable.
Luckily, my client didn’t panic. That’s because we had already planned out exactly how she would respond to a bad review.
While she couldn’t delete those harmful words, she could limit their potential damage.
This is the 3-step plan she had created – and the one she put into action
- Composing a polite and professional reply to the bad review asking for clarification on the points outlined and giving clear, concise answers to the questions raised
- Immediately contacting 10 supportive clients, explaining the situation, and asking them to write a positive review so they could drown out the negativity of the bad review
- Contacting each of the platforms where the review had been left to ask what, if anything, could be done to remove an inaccurate, negative review
How Planning Helps You Take the Risk Out of Risk in Your Business
When you’re running a business by yourself, it’s easy to feel that, on some days, the whole world is out to get you.
For example, if someone leaves you a bad review on a bad day, you could end up lashing out, instead of acting as calmly and professionally as you should.
While my client was very upset about the terrible words she’d been left, her well-thought-out plan stopped her from acting in the heat of the moment, keeping her excellent reputation intact.
So, being able to keep a level head in difficult circumstances – by taking the risk out of the risk in your business – you can breath easy as you know you are prepared for anything.
You know the old Einstein saying about doing the same thing time and time again, but expecting a different result?
With a brand-new decade on the horizon, why not take some time to fine-tune your 2020 vision and get planning!
If you need some ideas or a push in the right direction, why not book a Breakthrough Session with me that will help you focus on those important business goals?