How to minimise the risks in business

I have previously spoken about the secrets of success according to Bill Gates.

One of those secrets was to take massive action.

The action of any kind is essential in creating the outcome we seek, both in our personal and our business lives.

Sometimes taking massive action can be just too daunting.

Taking action leads to risk and risk is often the aspect we seek most to avoid.

Let’s just put that into some context though.

Being in business is a risk in itself

In small business every day we put our heads on the block to some degree.

The trick is to either limit the length of our neck or the speed of the guillotine.

Taking massive action may just seem like our neck is way too long and the guillotine too fast.

It’s why we often take much smaller steps toward the goal.

That way, at least if we fail we can change direction before too much is lost. ‘It gives us time to pull our heads off the block and let the guillotine whizz past.

The difficulty can be though that small steps, with small risks have an equally small gain.

That may suit your personality.

You may be considered cautious.

But what if the opportunity calls for massive action and just a little more risk than you are used to?

Or what if you want to take advantage of an opportunity but just need that extra push to take the leap of faith?

One of the most loved worksheets my Business Accelerator Mastermind Tribe use is The Sprint Planner worksheet.

It is a simple one-page map out of what steps you need to take to achieve your goals on time.

As always, risk should be given serious consideration.

I had a young intern a couple of years ago who turned up at the office one day all excited about a great share market opportunity he had.

This was the opportunity of a lifetime he had been given by the friend of a friend who wanted him to ‘get in on the ground floor ’of a start-up Internet company.

‘How much should I invest?” was his question to me.

“How much can you afford to lose?” was my reply.

It was a pretty simple equation

Sometimes in business though, what we need to gamble or risk in order to seize an opportunity may be out of proportion.

Let’s face it, if we weren’t prepared to sometimes take those risks then we wouldn’t be in business for ourselves.

The question of how much you are prepared to lose though is still a great guide.

By all means chase great success but make sure that you are as informed as you can be about the potential loss.

Run the idea past your mentor or Coach.

Get an objective viewpoint on it and then once you have all the information you need and you know that you can recover and survive any worst-case scenario, go ahead and dare to Achieve.

What if the risk you need to take is not that big though and you are just lacking the motivation or the incentive to take it at all?

Or what if you have always played it exceptionally safe in your business?

How do you take the leap of faith from ultimate safety to a small risk or two in order to grow?

In order to do that we sometimes need an incentive and that is where gearing up for the end of the calendar year can be of great help.

If you are keeping a close eye on your budget and forecast (and if not you should be!) then you can set yourself a target now for where you would like to be at the end of December.

Remember it’s imperative to make sure that the target is realistic and achievable.

But once it is set it can be a great motivator.

You will be on the way to finish the financial year with a bang!

Set some targets and then do whatever it takes to achieve them.

It may be that you need to take some risk, but take it knowing that it is part of a plan to achieve a set and defined goal.

About Mark Creedon Mark Creedon is Director of Metropole's Business Accelerator Mastermind and business coach to some of Australia's leading entrepreneurs - each who call him their "unreasonable friend"
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