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Business Risk Definition
Avoiding risk is an impossible task for businesses, but controlling and properly managing risk is achievable. Before we continue with this, it is important that we understand the term 'business risk'.
Business risk is defined as any threat or force preventing a business from reaching its financial goals or causing a business to fail.
Forces that create business risk can come from internal sources, such as a poor management structure, bad publicity, theft, or the loss of talented employees. External forces may also be at play, such as the increasing prices of raw materials needed for production, increased competition, changes in customer demand, natural disasters, or changes to government or market policy.
Such forces make it impossible for businesses to avoid risk completely as they are unpredictable and can’t be controlled by the business. However, there are steps that can be taken by businesses in order to avoid these risks. An example is creating a risk management strategy.
Types of Risk in Business
There are five main types of risk in business:
Strategic risk
Operational risk
Financial risk
Compliance risk
Reputation risk
Read along to understand each type with examples!
Fig. 1 - Types of business risk
1. Strategic risk
This risk arises when a previously laid-out business strategy becomes less effective or becomes no longer effective in a way that impacts business profit generation and growth, thus limiting businesses from reaching their set goals.
The risk can occur with changes in technology, the entrance of new competitors, changes in the business strategy of a direct competitor, or waning customer interest. To overcome this risk, businesses have to adapt their strategy.
Strategic risk occurs when a business's direct competitor cuts down the prices of its products or services, thus affecting the business originally positioned as a low-cost provider.
2. Operational risk
This is a risk that arises inside the business, hence it can be termed an internal risk. Operational risk arises from the business's daily activity. This can include technical failure, inappropriate decision-making, or employee-related issues. However, it is important to note that sometimes operational risks may be due to external events such as natural disasters, power outages, etc.
A major event involving the multinational bank HSBC occurred when an anti-laundering team failed to adequately stop a money-laundering effort involving Mexican drug cartels and some of the bank's employees in 2012. The company was made to pay a fine of around $1.92 billion to regulators.
3. Financial risk
Although all types of business risks have an impact on the business's finances, the financial type, as the term suggests, means the risk of sudden financial loss. This may arise due to changes in market conditions, providing credit to customers, and company debt.
An example of financial risk is selling your business's product on credit to 60 percent of your regular customers. This puts your business at great financial risk due to the fact that your customers may not or may not be able to pay for the services offered to them on credit.
4. Compliance risk
This type of business risk is common in highly regulated industries. Compliance risk arises from businesses not following industry operations regulations in their state. Compliance risk may also arise upon introduction of new business operation regulations, which can significantly affect a business's strategy.
Compliance risk might occur when a food business expands its services from one geographical region to another, say from Africa to Europe. Since each geographical region has its own unique food regulations, the ones in Africa differ from those in Europe. This may force the business to set up a subsidiary in order to comply with local regulations, which could cost the business a significant amount of money.
5. Reputation risk
The reputation of a company is important. A company with a ruined reputation is at risk of losing public backing and customers, thus negatively impacting its brand loyalty.
An example of reputation risk is a business's continued inability to meet customer expectations with poor quality products or services. Sub-standard product may put the business at a risk of getting a bad reputation through customer reviews.
Business Risk Causes
There are three main categories for business risk causes:
Natural causes
Human causes
Economic causes
1. Natural causes
Risk may occur due to natural causes, or non-man-made factors that hamper the operations of a business. This may include natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc. Businesses can defend against this risk by taking out insurance coverage to soften the effects of these disasters on their activities.
2. Human causes
Business risk due to human causes refers to human factors affecting the operations of a business. These factors may include employee issues, strikes, ineffective business management, poor decision-making, or changing consumer choices.
3. Economic causes
Economic factors may contribute to risk that limits businesses from reaching their financial goals. This may include increased cost of raw materials and labour, competition, market regulations, government policies, increasing interest rates, etc.
Accessing Business Risk
Business risks are generally unavoidable, hence the need for regular assessments. Businesses should aim to identify these risks and address them immediately. Assessing business risks can be divided into three steps:
Identify risks: recognise all the potential risks that the business may face. This can be done through brainstorming, industry analysis, and internal audits.
Evaluate risks: determine risk's potential impact on the business. This can be done by assigning a score to each risk based on its likelihood and potential impact.
Prioritize risks: arrange the risks in order of importance based on their impact and likelihood. The highest priority risks should be addressed first, as they pose the greatest threat to the business.
It is important to remember that assessing business risk is only the first step in the risk management process. Read on to find out more about business risk management.
Managing Business Risk
While the goal of assessing business risk is to understand the risk, managing business risk's goal is to reduce the impact of that uncertainty. Below are ways to manage business risks:
Prepare a business plan that outlines future possibilities of market changes and the steps the business can take to mitigate their effects.
Invest in training of employees to deal with unsatisfied customers or natural disasters (e.g. flooding).
Employ experts and consultants who have specialised knowledge on how to deal with business risks.
Prioritise business risks on a scale of likely occurrence.
Insure business assets.
Diversification, also known as selling new products in different markets, might minimise the risk of competitors taking the business's market share.
Create a risk management team for your business.
Give a credit limit to high-risk customers.
Provide quality assurance for your products to protect your reputation.
Stay updated about the market, consumer interest, and your competitors and regulations, and embrace changes in the market.
Business risk is impossible to avoid, so understanding and constantly accessing the likelihood of potential risks is important in managing your risk. Risk, no matter the form taken, impacts the firm's financial goals and can cause a business to fail.
Business Risk Examples
In the table below, you can find three examples of business risks along with risk level, probability, impact on the business and what a company should do to minimise the effects of each risk
| Risk | Level | Probability | Impact on the business | What to do to minimise the risk |
| Supply chain disruption | High risk | 75% |
|
|
| Competition increase | Medium | 50% |
|
|
| Economic downturn | Low | 25% |
|
|
Table 1 - Business Risks Examples, StudySmarter
Business Risks - Key Takeaways
Business risk is defined as any threat or force causing failure or preventing a business from reaching its financial goals.
Forces that create business risk may come from internal sources, such as a poor management structure, bad publicity, theft, or the loss of talented employees.
External forces may also be at play, such as increasing prices of raw materials needed for production, increased competition, changes in customer demand, natural disasters, or changes to government or market policy.
There are five main types of risk a business may face:
Strategic risk
Operational risk
Financial risk
Compliance risk
Reputation risk.
The three causes of business risks are:
Natural causes
Human causes
Economic causes.
Business risks can be managed by creating a business plan, training employees, using experts or consultants, diversification, and embracing changes in the market.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Business Risks
How to assess a business risk?
Assessing risk as a part of risk management can be divided into three steps:
Identify risks: recognise all the potential risks that the business may face.
Evaluate risks: determine risk's potential impact on the business.
Prioritize risks: arrange the risks in order of importance based on their impact and likelihood.
How do you manage a business risk?
Managing business risk can be divided into the following steps:
- Risk assessment: identifying, assessing, prioritising all potential risks
- Risk mitigation: developing and implementing strategies to reduce risks impact
- Monitoring and reviewing: regular evaluation of risk mitigation plans and strategies
- Communication: informing all stakeholders about the risk management plan
What is the risk definition in business?
Business risk is defined as any threat or force preventing a business from reaching its financial goals or causing a business to fail.
What are examples of business risk?
Some examples of business risks are:
- supply chain disruption
- competition increase
- fines and penalties paid for not following the law
What are types of business risk?
There are five main types of business risks:
- Strategic risk
- Operational risk
- Financial risk
- Compliance risk
- Reputation risk
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